Lithium battery separators are the key materials with the highest technical barriers among the four core materials of lithium batteries, and finally domestic production. At present, most of the middle and high-end separators used by domestic lithium-ion battery manufacturers rely on imports, but this situation may soon change.
Today (December 1), Shenzhen Xingyuan Material Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xingyuan Material") was officially listed on the GEM. The funds raised this time will be mainly used for the third-generation high-performance power lithium-ion battery separator production line expansion project, functional film research and development center upgrade project.
Xingyuan Material was established in 2003. It is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, development, production and sales of lithium ion battery separators in the field of new energy, new materials and new energy vehicles. And drafting committee deputy leader unit.
In recent years, the explosive growth of new energy vehicles has driven the rapid growth of the lithium battery market. The separator, which is one of the core materials of lithium batteries, has also developed rapidly.
According to a research report by Haitong Securities, according to true lithium research statistics, global new energy vehicle sales in 2015 were about 643,000, an increase of 81.90% year-on-year, compared with the 68,000 sales volume of the first year of electric vehicles in 2011. Times, the average annual compound growth rate is as high as 75.36%. Under this influence, the global lithium-ion battery separator output increased from 500 million square meters in 2010 to 1.29 billion square meters in 2015, with an average annual compound growth rate of 20.9%. It is expected that the global lithium-ion battery separator output will reach 1.66 billion in 2016. Square meter.
With the growth of the power market, the main business of Xingyuan Material has achieved rapid growth in recent years. According to its disclosed prospectus, in 2013, 2014, 2015, and the first half of 2016, its main business income was RMB 220.402 million, RMB 292.571 million, RMB 41,778.29 million, and RMB 25,036.89. Ten thousand yuan. In 2014 and 2015, they increased by 72,169,900 yuan and 125,256,800 yuan respectively compared with the previous year, an increase of 32.77% and 43.00%, respectively. The main business income increased steadily. In 2016, it is expected to realize revenue of 500 million to 550 million yuan, and it is expected that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company will reach 140 million to 170 million yuan.
High-end alternative acceleration
Lithium-ion battery separators, cathode materials, anode materials, and electrolytes are the most important materials that make up lithium-ion batteries. The internal winding of the lithium-ion battery uses a spiral winding structure, which requires a very fine and highly permeable thin-film insulation material to be spaced between the positive and negative electrodes. The specific structure is shown in the following figure:
At present, large-scale commercial production of lithium-ion battery separator materials is mainly based on polyolefins, mainly including polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE) composite materials. Polyolefin can provide good mechanical properties, chemical stability and high temperature self-closing performance, and is the main raw material of current lithium ion battery separators.
The cost of the separator accounts for about 10% -20% of the cost of the lithium-ion battery, and the gross profit margin can reach 50% -60%. Industry sources said that the quality of the separator will directly affect the battery's internal resistance, capacity, cycle life, and safety performance.
With the rapid development of China's lithium battery industry in recent years, it has become a major producer of lithium batteries. However, the barriers to diaphragm technology are high. Production technologies cover multiple disciplines, such as polymer materials science, material processing, nanotechnology, electrochemistry, surface and interface science, mechanical design and automation control technology, and complete equipment design. The technology deposits and technical reserves are insufficient, especially related technical professionals are in short supply, so the development is relatively slow. At present, most domestic manufacturers are mainly concentrated in the low-end market competition, while mid-to-high-end products still rely mainly on imports.
According to market participants, the threshold for lithium-ion battery separators is relatively high, especially for participating in mid-to-high-end product competition, which requires strong strength in raw material formulation, production process, production equipment, and sales channels.
Taking dry unidirectional stretching process as an example, the production equipment is mainly divided into raw material processing system, extrusion casting (blow film) system, annealing heat treatment system, stretching system, winding system, slitting system, thickness control system , Defect detection systems, etc., which require extremely high precision of production equipment, and production difficulty is much higher than ordinary thin film equipment; secondly, the selection of production equipment needs to match the process, that is, to customize the equipment according to specific process requirements, and to manufacture The technical level of the supplier is extremely high.
Xingyuan Materials has independently broken through and mastered the wet process technology since 2006. It has broken through and mastered the dry one-way stretching process technology, and has continued to improve the dry one-way stretching process and improve its equipment, breaking the foreign technology blockade. Filled the blank of domestic high-end lithium battery national model production technology. It is one of the few lithium battery separator companies in the world with both dry and wet preparation technologies. At present, it has seven technologically advanced dry diaphragm production lines and one wet diaphragm production line.
Unlike the current majority of domestic diaphragms concentrated in the low-end market, the products of Xingyuan Material are positioned in the mid-to-high-end market, and the price fluctuations of the industry are relatively small. According to the data of the first half of this year, in the comprehensive strength ranking of global lithium battery separator manufacturers, Xingyuan Material ranks among the top ten.
According to Xingyuan Material, as the leading domestic manufacturer of lithium battery separators, the capacity of Xingyuan Material's separators has accounted for 4% of the global market, and it has cooperated with South Korean LG Chemical, France SAFT, Samsung SDI, ATL, Panasonic Energy and other large foreign well-known lithium Ion battery manufacturers have deep cooperation.