On February 23. 2023, the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China released the "2022 National Lithium ion Battery Industry Operation Situation".

According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the national production of lithium-ion batteries reached 750GWh in 2022, a year-on-year increase of over 130%. The total industry output value exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan, which is about twice the previous year's total industry output value of 600 billion yuan.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that in 2022, China's lithium-ion battery industry will adhere to supply side structural reform, accelerate technological innovation and transformation and upgrading development, continuously improve the supply capacity of advanced products, and maintain a rapid growth trend. The industry generally presents the following characteristics:

Firstly, the production continues to grow rapidly and the industrial scale continues to expand. According to industry standard announcements, enterprise information, and research institutions' calculations, the national production of lithium-ion batteries reached 750GWh in 2022, a year-on-year increase of over 130%, with the production of energy storage lithium batteries exceeding 100GWh. The production of lithium-ion first-order materials such as positive electrode materials, negative electrode materials, separators, and electrolytes is approximately 1.85 million tons, 1.4 million tons, 13 billion square meters, and 850000 tons, respectively, with a year-on-year growth of over 60%. The industrial scale has further expanded, and the total output value of the industry has exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan.

The second is to accelerate the expansion of industry applications, promoting the acceleration of the dual carbon process. In 2022, lithium-ion batteries accelerated their rise and entered a growth window period in the field of new energy vehicles, as well as in energy storage fields such as wind and solar energy storage, communication energy storage, and household energy storage. In 2022, the total installed capacity of new energy vehicle power batteries in China was about 295GWh, and the cumulative installed growth rate of lithium-ion batteries exceeded 130%. In 2022, the total export value of lithium batteries in China reached 342.65 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 86.7%, making positive contributions to the efficient development and utilization of new energy and the green and low-carbon transformation of the global economy and society.

Thirdly, technological progress is accelerating, and advanced products are emerging endlessly. Backbone enterprises are accelerating their layout around efficient system integration and ultra large capacity battery cells, with advanced battery product systems having an energy density exceeding 250GWh/kg; New battery products with flexibility, low temperature resistance, and water resistance have been successfully applied in Winter Olympics equipment. The new generation of information technology is further integrated with new energy storage products, and intelligent liquid cooling technology significantly enhances the thermal management level of energy storage systems, reducing system safety hazards.

The fourth is the high enthusiasm for industry investment and the strengthening of collaborative cooperation throughout the entire chain. According to incomplete statistics, in 2022, there will be only over 40 planned projects in the battery cell sector, with a planned total production capacity exceeding 1.2 TWh and a planned investment of 430 billion yuan. The prices of upstream products fluctuate at high levels, and the prices of lithium-ion secondary materials repeatedly rise and fall. The average prices of battery grade lithium carbonate and battery grade lithium hydroxide (micro powder grade) in 2022 reached 481000 yuan perton and 464000 yuan perton, respectively. Lithium battery enterprises strengthen upstream and downstream cooperation in the industrial chain through various forms such as investment and equity participation, signing long-term orders, and joint research.

If combined with data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the previous "White Paper on the Development of China's Lithium ion Battery Industry (2023)" released by domestic research institution EVTank, it can be seen that in 2022, China's lithium ion battery industry still plays a leading role globally.

According to the white paper data, in 2022, the overall global shipment volume of lithium-ion batteries was 957.7GWh, a year-on-year increase of 70.3%. The shipment volume of lithium-ion batteries in China reached 660.8GWh, a year-on-year increase of 97.7%, exceeding the global average growth rate, and accounting for 69.0% of the global total shipment volume of lithium-ion batteries.

In addition, it is worth noting that regarding the issue of high fluctuations in lithium battery raw material prices mentioned by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last year, a week ago, Ouyang Minggao, Vice Chairman of the China Electric Vehicle Hundred People Association, predicted that lithium resource prices would further return in the second half of this year, possibly dropping to 350000 to 400000 yuan perton. At the same time, the supply and demand of lithium resources will reach a balance this year, and there will be surplus next year. The future price balance point will be around 200000 yuan perton.

At the same time, Ouyang Minggao emphasized that the price of lithium resources should not be too low, which will lead to unprofitable lithium resource recycling and is not conducive to the healthy development of the industry.