From Disorder to Order: The Lithium Battery Separator Industry Reborn Amidst Initiatives and Responses!

In recent years, with the explosive growth in demand for lithium batteries in fields such as NEVs and ESS, the lithium battery separator industry has entered a period of rapid expansion. However, during this development process, irrational capacity expansion has led to a severe oversupply in the market. Taking 2024 as an example, the dry-process separator industry experienced continuous price wars, with some models even falling below the cost line by the end of the year. Many separator enterprises found their dry-process product lines in a widespread state of loss. This "cut-throat competition" has strained corporate cash flows, severely underfunded R&D investments, and exposed the entire industry to a significant risk of declining competitiveness.

Against this backdrop, the industry urgently needs an effective set of solutions to break the deadlock. In April this year, the Battery Film Specialized Committee of China Plastics Processing Industry Association issued the "Initiative to Jointly Promote High-Quality Development of the Lithium Battery Separator Industry," proposing the establishment of an industry collaborative development mechanism, strengthening self-discipline to jointly promote high-quality development, and improving the supply chain credit guarantee mechanism. It advocates for enterprises to avoid excessive competition and unnecessary internal friction within the industry, steering the battery separator industry steadily along a path of healthy and high-quality development. Subsequently, four separator enterprises—Shenzhen Senior Technology Material, Bosun New Material, Huiqiang New Material, and ZTE New Material—swiftly responded by issuing statements to help the separator industry transition from price wars to value-driven competition.

Examining the commonalities in the response statements from these four enterprises, all mentioned capacity optimization, industry ecosystem maintenance, and so on.

In response to the current severe situation of supply-demand imbalance in dry-process separators and widespread losses among industry enterprises, Shenzhen Senior Technology Material will take the lead in implementing intelligent transformation to dynamically adjust the capacity of existing production lines, achieving intelligent release management of 50% of actual capacity. This ratio will be adjusted in real-time based on changes in market demand, ensuring balanced development of market supply and demand and exploring innovative industry paths for precise supply-side matching.

To address the current issue of structural overcapacity in the industry, Huiqiang New Material will rely on its "High-Safety Composite Separator Technology Platform" to implement the "Precision Capacity Matching Plan" and the strategy of "simultaneously advancing quality and efficiency." It will not compete on scale or blindly expand but will instead focus on meeting customer needs and deeply explore customer pain points and difficulties.

In addition, Huiqiang New Material will dynamically adjust production rhythms: by combining industry capacity data, enterprise dynamics, and utilizing big data to scientifically monitor and analyze market demand, it will dynamically optimize the operational efficiency of production lines, prioritize the release of high-performance and high-value-added product capacities, implement dynamic regulation on 50% of existing capacities, participate in dynamic capacity optimization initiatives, and ensure balanced supply and demand in market capacity.

In response to the current structural overcapacity of separators, Bosun New Material will scientifically plan its capacity based on market demand, reduce ineffective supply by strengthening inventory management and formulating production cut and maintenance plans, and proactively eliminate or upgrade outdated and high-cost production capacities. It will concentrate resources in high-value-added product areas, ultimately achieving the business goal of "reduced volume but increased profits."

ZTE New Material will scientifically plan its capacity, reasonably adjust production rhythms based on market demand, avoid overcapacity caused by blind expansion, and prevent industry resource waste.

Overall, all four enterprises recognize the current issue of overcapacity and are actively taking measures to optimize capacity to achieve market supply-demand balance.

In terms of industry ecosystem maintenance, Shenzhen Senior Technology Material advocates for the establishment of a quarterly supply-demand information-sharing platform to enhance market transparency. It promotes a "Technology Innovation Premium" pricing model to objectively reflect the value of R&D investments. It opposes cut-throat competition and promotes the healthy development of the dry-process separator industry by focusing on scientific research and value creation.

Huiqiang New Material proposes the establishment of a value-sharing ecosystem to create a fair environment and lead the industry ecosystem upgrade. The company advocates for the establishment of a technology collaboration alliance and the full maintenance of fair market competition order.

Bosun New Material firmly opposes cut-throat competition at prices below cost and advocates for enterprises to reduce costs through technological innovation and process optimization rather than sacrificing product quality and long-term interests. It encourages enterprises to develop scientifically, strengthen corporate collaboration and self-discipline, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and avoid vicious market share competition.

ZTE New Material insists on rational competition and maintaining market order. The company advocates for the establishment of a reasonable pricing mechanism based on market supply and demand, technological R&D, and quality assurance pricing strategies to ensure sustainable corporate development and prevent the industry from falling into inefficient competition.

In summary, all four enterprises emphasize maintaining a fair and competitive market environment, opposing cut-throat competition, and promoting technological innovation and industry collaborative development through various means to build a healthy industry ecosystem.

At the same time, enterprises are also focusing on technological innovation, proposing the implementation of a "Technology Innovation Premium" pricing model, driving value enhancement through technological innovation, advocating pricing strategies based on market supply and demand, technological R&D, and quality assurance, continuously exploring new technological paths and product directions to adapt to industry development trends and market demands.

Looking ahead, the initiatives and responses from enterprises will bring new opportunities for the development of the lithium battery separator industry. These initiatives and responses will drive the industry to shift from scale expansion to quality improvement, with some inefficient capacities being eliminated in market competition. Resources will concentrate on enterprises with technological, management, and brand advantages, accelerating the industry's integration process. Additionally, measures such as establishing an industry collaborative development mechanism, strengthening self-discipline, and improving the supply chain credit guarantee mechanism will effectively address current industry issues like overcapacity and cut-throat competition, steering the industry toward high-quality development.

It is clear that during this process, the competitive landscape of the separator industry will transition from disorder to order, technological innovation will become the core competitiveness of enterprises, and upstream and downstream sectors of the industry chain will achieve closer collaborative development.

From "price wars" to "technological chess matches," capacity regulation and self-discipline initiatives are accelerating the reshuffle of the separator industry. Small and medium-sized players are exiting the market, while top-tier enterprises are seizing high ground with technological barriers and scale advantages, leading to a significant increase in market concentration.

Here, we also call on separator enterprises with a sense of social responsibility to take the initiative, actively advocate, and respond, guided by innovation-driven and responsible leadership, to jointly build a green and efficient development ecosystem for the industry. Battery.com will continue to focus on industry dynamics, deeply track, and witness every step of the separator industry's journey toward high-quality development.