Insufficient demand compresses the profit margins of automotive panels [SMM analysis]

According to SMM statistics, China's automotive sheet production totaled approximately 484,000 mt in 2023, up approximately 22,000 mt YoY. Growth slowed but maintained positive growth.

In recent years, China's automotive sheet production capacity has increased year after year. As of the end of 2023, a total of 8 domestic companies have stable production capabilities for automotive sheets, with a total annual production capacity of approximately 1 million mt in operation. There are still 400,000 mt of automotive sheet production capacity still under preparation or debugging.

The main reason for the large difference in automotive sheet production capacity and output is the low yield of automotive sheets, which is only 60%-70%. And some companies will use related equipment to produce other products, occupying automotive sheet production capacity. However, many industry insiders pointed out that although the above reasons have dragged down production capacity utilization, the output of automobile sheets in 2023 is still lower than expected. This is mainly due to the bleak demand for automobile sheets during the year and the reduction of purchasing volume by many car companies. In 2024, there is no sign of improvement on the demand, but it is expected that 100,000-200,000 mt of production capacity will be completed and implemented. The supply will continue to tend to exceed demand, and the profit margin of the entire industry is expected to be compressed again.