Daiwa: China's EV Battery Installations Set for Robust Growth, Maintains CATL Buy Rating

Recently, Nanning Urban Construction Investment Group and Huahui New Material Technology Co., Ltd. signed an agreement for the lithium/sodium battery dry-process separator intelligent manufacturing project. The total investment for the project is approximately 500 million yuan. It plans to build a new production line with an annual capacity of 1 billion square meters of dry-process separators for lithium/sodium batteries. The project will introduce Guangxi's first new-generation dry-process uniaxial stretching and 4.2-meter-wide biaxial stretching battery separator production line. It is expected that upon reaching full capacity, the annual output value will be approximately 800 million yuan, creating 170 jobs, and establishing the first battery base film production base in Guangxi.

Recently, the Binhe Haoyu 100MW/200MWh independent energy storage station in Zhucheng completed acceptance and entered commercial operation. The project was invested in by an energy storage industry fund jointly initiated by Corun, CALB, and Kaibo Capital. It was jointly developed by members of the large energy storage ecosystem consortium, including Corun, CALC, Goxia Technology, Duanrui Technology, and Star Energy New Energy. The station adopts a hybrid energy storage technology route combining "lithium iron phosphate + all-vanadium redox flow batteries," which can meet the grid's full-time-scale regulation needs while significantly reducing the lifecycle levelized cost of energy, enhancing overall system economy and safety, and maximizing operational efficiency and economic benefits.

As production order fully resumed after the Chinese New Year, the sodium-ion battery industry chain saw a strong recovery in March. Production across the four major segments—cathode, anode, electrolyte, and battery cell—posted substantial growth both YoY and MoM, with industry prosperity rebounding markedly.