For a long time, there has been an endless debate on the two mainstream technology routes of ternary lithium battery and lithium iron phosphate battery in the market. A reporter from the Financial Associated Press learned from industry insiders that with the breakthrough in the battery life technology of lithium iron phosphate and the gradual decline of subsidies for new energy vehicles, the installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate battery has continued to rise recently, showing a trend of catching up with and surpassing the installed capacity of ternary batteries, which has also led the industrial chain into the tuyere of increasing production and expansion. The relevant listed companies are running into the game one after another.
On the evening of February 21, Chuanfa Dragon Python (002312.SZ) announced that the company plans to invest 12 billion yuan in Deyang-Aba Ecological Economic Industrial Park to build a new energy material project for lithium electricity of Chuanfa Dragon Python in Deyang. The planned land of the project is 800 mu, and the construction cycle is planned from March 2022 to December 2026. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed and put into production in December 2024, and the second phase is expected to be completed and put into production in December 2026. The project was completed for the record in January this year. The project has been listed as a key project in Sichuan.
It is worth noting that the main contents of the above projects are: construction projects with an annual output of 200000 tons of lithium iron phosphate and 200000 tons of iron phosphate and supporting products. With regard to the logic of the layout of new energy materials such as lithium iron phosphate, a company person who has laid out lithium iron phosphate and other companies told the Financial Associated Press that new energy is the development trend in the future, and lithium iron phosphate is one of the mainstream technical routes of the two battery materials. In addition, the company has advantages in phosphate rock and other resources.
According to the data, Tianrui Mining, which the company is currently acquiring, has phosphate rock resources in the copper factory ridge of Laoheba phosphate mining area in Mabian, with reserves of about 95.56 million tons and an annual design capacity of 2.5 million tons. It is reported that if Tianrui Mining is successfully acquired, the company will have an annual production capacity of 3.65 million tons of phosphate rock. In addition, the company has an output of more than 360000 tons of industrial-grade monoammonium phosphate, which has become one of the important raw materials of iron phosphate, the precursor of lithium iron phosphate, as the cathode material of new energy battery (lithium iron phosphate battery).
The advantages of the technical route of lithium iron phosphate and the gradual optimization of the duration of flight are also one of the reasons for the layout of Chuanfa dragon python. The Financial Associated Press reporter learned from people in the industry that in the two major technical routes, compared with the ternary lithium battery with long battery life but high cost, lithium iron phosphate battery has the advantages of low cost and high safety but slightly shorter battery life; at present, the battery life of lithium iron phosphate battery is being continuously optimized, taking 002594.SZ 's "Han" series new energy vehicles with lithium iron phosphate battery (blade battery) as an example. In addition, the domestic reserves of cobalt and nickel involved in the raw materials of ternary lithium batteries are very few, and there is a problem of "sticking neck" in the raw materials.
The output and loading capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries are indeed increasing rapidly. According to the January power battery data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the output of lithium iron phosphate batteries in China in January was 18.8GWH, accounting for 63.3% of the total output, up 261.8% from the same period last year, far exceeding the 57.9% increase in ternary lithium batteries over the same period. The corresponding loading volume was 8.9GWH, up 172.7% from the same period last year, far exceeding the 7.3GWH installed capacity of ternary batteries and far exceeding its 35.2% increase over the same period.
According to the announcement of Chuanfa Dragon Python, from 2016 to 2021, China's apparent consumption of lithium iron phosphate increased from 81600 tons to 420000 tons, with a compound annual growth rate of about 38.76 percent. The company also said: "as the demand for power batteries and energy storage batteries continues to grow at a high speed, there is more room for future growth in areas related to the industrial chain, such as lithium iron phosphate." It is worth mentioning that recently, Tianyuan shares (002386.SZ), Zhongwei shares (300919.SZ), Sichuan Heng shares (002895.SZ) and other listed companies have laid out lithium iron phosphate projects.
