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offer","catl-starts-battery-price-war-with-low-cost-lithium-offer","article/catl-starts-battery-price-war-with-low-cost-lithium-offer",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":711,"featured":50,"reporter":712,"_editable":716,"component":717,"seo_title":543,"categories":718,"visibility":730,"author_company":49,"featured_image":731,"seo_description":711,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":735,"formattedArticleDate":736},"f22dc2ee-c077-484c-ab47-60c5417092a6","2023-03-01 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"catl","CATL",{"slug":554,"name":555},"china","China",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,581,586,601,606,611,620,627,632,637,642,647,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,687,692,697,702],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"CATL’s decision to offer select electric vehicle makers in China discounts on batteries linked to lower lithium prices has fired the starting gun on a battle for market share that could hit its smaller rivals. ","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579],{"text":580,"type":575},"The world’s largest battery producer has reportedly offered automakers including Nio, Li Auto, Huawei and Zeekr batteries containing lithium priced as low as RMB 200,000 ($29,146) in turn for them placing at least 80% of their future orders with the company in the next three years.",{"type":570,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"textAlign":49},[584],{"text":585,"type":575},"Applying that discount on lithium prices could lower battery cell prices by around 20%, according to Benchmark. That would push the cost of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells in China down to $74 a kilowatt hour, from current prices of $91.5 a kWh. ",{"type":570,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589,591,599],{"text":590,"type":575},"The deal guarantees CATL demand for its batteries, enabling it to increase utilisation rates at its factories and push out smaller rivals who are increasingly targeting top-tier automakers. CATL is the country’s largest producer, ",{"text":592,"type":575,"marks":593},"with output set to quadruple this decade",[594],{"type":595,"attrs":596},"link",{"href":597,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":598},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/the-big-get-bigger-in-batteries-top-ten-producers-set-to-grow-output-400","url",{"text":600,"type":575},", according to Benchmark. ",{"type":570,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":575},"It could also provide it with money upfront in the form of an advance payments for batteries, allowing it to invest in mining. ",{"type":570,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":575},"“It is aimed at grabbing more market share and aimed at decimating rivals, basically everybody else except BYD or the OEMs who build their own battery factories,” said Albert Li, analyst with Benchmark.",{"type":570,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"type":615,"attrs":616},"image",{"id":49,"alt":617,"src":618,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":619},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/144bd532a0/bm-top-10-cell-producers-2022-v4.jpg",{},{"type":621,"attrs":622,"content":624},"heading",{"level":623,"textAlign":49},4,[625],{"text":626,"type":575},"Putting the squeeze on rivals ",{"type":570,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":575},"CATL’s efforts may have already sparked a pricing war amongst its competitors, many of whom are yet to make a profit.",{"type":570,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":575},"SVOLT, a battery maker spun out of Great Wall Motors, has also started a 10% battery price reduction plan, according to reports in Chinese media.  ",{"type":570,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":575},"CATL’s move comes after SVOLT filed for a $2.2 billion initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in November. Another rival battery producer Ruipu, backed by the world’s largest nickel producer Tsingshan, also plans to raise $1 billion this year via a Hong Kong public listing.",{"type":570,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":575},"Yet CATL is the most profitable battery producer by a large margin, with net profits set to range between 29.1 billion RMB ($42 billion) and 31.5 billion RMB in 2022, according to the company. ",{"type":621,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"level":623,"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":575},"Benefits of vertical integration ",{"type":570,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":575},"CATL’s deal also highlights the power of having access to domestic Chinese lithium resources and guaranteed supplies of the metal. ",{"type":570,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":575},"Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate prices have fallen by 19% this year to RMB 434,000 a tonne, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment, a slump which is seasonally typical for the first quarter but one that has been compounded by the removal of government subsidies for electric vehicles and a subdued economic recovery from the country’s Covid-19 restrictions. ",{"type":570,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":575},"Lithium can account for around 40% of the cost of a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Ion Battery Cell Price Assessment.  ",{"type":570,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":575},"CATL has moved aggressively over the past year to invest in domestic Chinese lithium resources. It has a stake in Zhicun Lithium, which is developing a project in Xinjiang, and also has invested in lithium mining in Yichun, in Jiangxi province.",{"type":570,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":575},"Last year CATL signed a joint venture agreement with Lopal and Tangshan Xinfeng Lithium to construct a 30,000 tpa nameplate capacity lithium carbonate facility in Yichun.",{"type":570,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":575},"The production cost of lithium from Jiangxi could be as low as RMB 150,000 a tonne, according to Li. ",{"type":570,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":575},"In addition, CATL could get around 10,000 tonnes LCE or more from recycling of old batteries, he said. ",{"type":570,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690],{"text":691,"type":575},"“CATL is confident to drag down lithium price now because they are making progress upstream,” Li said. ",{"type":570,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695],{"text":696,"type":575},"Only 50% of the batteries supplied to automakers will be priced using lithium at RMB 200,000 a tonne, according to Benchmark’s understanding and the rest will be based on the market price, although these proportions will be dynamically adjusted.",{"type":570,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":575},"Still, CATL does not control enough lithium resources to influence prices, according to Cameron Perks, an analyst at Benchmark. That means it will still have to purchase the majority of its lithium on the open market. ",{"type":570,"attrs":703,"content":704},{"textAlign":49},[705,707,709],{"text":706,"type":575},"“It seems like they may have",{"text":708,"type":575},"just",{"text":710,"type":575},"enough lithium from their domestic projects to supply their requirements,” he said. “But if anything goes wrong they’re going to be taking a loss buying lithium.”","CATL’s decision to offer select electric vehicle makers in China discounts on batteries linked to lower lithium prices has fired the starting gun on a battle for market share that could hit its smaller rivals. The world’s largest battery producer has reportedly offered automakers including Nio, Li Auto, Huawei and Zeekr batteries containing lithium priced […]",[713],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":714},{"job_title":561,"image":715,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"f22dc2ee-c077-484c-ab47-60c5417092a6\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[719,722,725,728],{"slug":720,"name":721},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":723,"name":724},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":726,"name":727},"ev","EV",{"slug":729,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":617,"name":617,"focus":617,"title":617,"source":617,"filename":732,"copyright":617,"fieldtype":733,"meta_data":734,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/4280a70002/bm-catl-headquarters-3.jpg","asset",{"alt":617,"title":617,"source":617,"copyright":617},"Mar 01, 2023","1st March 2023",[],[],1783354827749]