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pipeline contraction could signal Chinese battery consolidation","gigafactory-pipeline-contraction-could-signal-chinese-battery-consolidation","article/gigafactory-pipeline-contraction-could-signal-chinese-battery-consolidation",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":568,"content":578,"excerpt":669,"featured":51,"reporter":670,"_editable":674,"component":675,"seo_title":553,"categories":676,"visibility":680,"author_company":49,"featured_image":681,"seo_description":669,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":685,"formattedArticleDate":686},"1c2ae481-31a2-47ed-97fa-9d74a07ec189","2024-03-28 00:00",[560,563,566],{"slug":561,"name":562},"benchmark-verified","Benchmark Verified",{"slug":564,"name":565},"china","China",{"slug":567,"name":567},"gigafactory",[569],{"slug":570,"name":571,"content":572},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":573,"image":574,"bio":576,"linkedin":577},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":575},"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":579,"content":580},"doc",[581,588,593,602,607,612,617,622,627,634,639,644,649,654,659,664],{"type":582,"attrs":583,"content":584},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[585],{"text":586,"type":587},"The battery pipeline capacity fell 1.94% month-on-month in March, the biggest net decline since Benchmark launched its formal assessment in 2018.","text",{"type":582,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":587},"The drop reflects lower investment and may indicate that China’s competitive cell industry is about to undergo consolidation.",{"type":582,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"type":597,"attrs":598},"image",{"id":49,"alt":599,"src":600,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":601},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/d18874334b/bm-unnamed-1.png",{},{"type":582,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605],{"text":606,"type":587},"Based on satellite image analyses, Benchmark removed assets from its gigafactory database that no longer appeared under construction.",{"type":582,"attrs":608,"content":609},{"textAlign":49},[610],{"text":611,"type":587},"Benchmark selected sites for analysis based on reports of financial and legal difficulties at certain companies.",{"type":582,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":587},"In total, the removed pipeline projects represented 181 gigawatt hours (GWh) of capacity and all were smaller Tier 2 or Tier 3 assets, ranging between two to 50 GWh in capacity. ",{"type":582,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":587},"In addition to the drop in pipeline gigawatt hours, the number of planned projects also fell by 4 compared to the previous month, the biggest drop in this metric since April 2023.",{"type":582,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":587},"“What we are seeing is not just less capacity but fewer gigafactories,” said Hartley.",{"type":628,"attrs":629,"content":631},"heading",{"level":630,"textAlign":49},4,[632],{"text":633,"type":587},"Projects not being replaced",{"type":582,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":587},"The cell pipeline contraction reflects a slowdown in investment after months of lower EV demand growth and a heavier focus from cell makers on expanding existing projects. ",{"type":582,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":587},"“If five or six projects dropped out a year ago, likely it would not have resulted in a net loss to the pipeline because there would have been new ones being announced,” said Evan Hartley, a senior analyst at Benchmark. ",{"type":582,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":587},"More closures are expected this year, primarily among smaller producers. This would imply China’s cell industry is about to undergo consolidation, especially if larger players snap up cheap land and equipment from failed smaller projects. ",{"type":582,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":587},"“This year a lot of the bigger producers are expecting to outlast the smaller producers,” said Hartley. ",{"type":582,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":587},"However, less capacity could be a good thing for the industry, he says, as decreased growth in EV consumption has led to an increase in unused factory capacity.",{"type":582,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":587},"“Overcapacity has been a significant concern over the past year, particularly within the Chinese domestic market. With so many planned gigafactories, we expect raw material supply deficits towards the end of the decade, and the removal of a few planned projects could remove some of that pressure,” said Hartley. ",{"type":582,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":587},"Cell capacity removal will not increase forecast battery supply deficits as future bottlenecks are expected to come from shortages of raw materials, not battery capacity.","The battery pipeline capacity fell 1.94% month-on-month in March, the biggest net decline since Benchmark launched its formal assessment in 2018. The drop reflects lower investment and may indicate that China’s competitive cell industry is about to undergo consolidation. Based on satellite image analyses, Benchmark removed assets from its gigafactory database that no longer appeared […]",[671],{"slug":570,"name":571,"content":672},{"job_title":573,"image":673,"bio":576,"linkedin":577},{"filename":575},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"1c2ae481-31a2-47ed-97fa-9d74a07ec189\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[677],{"slug":678,"name":679},"batteries","Batteries","private",{"id":49,"alt":599,"name":599,"focus":599,"title":599,"source":599,"filename":682,"copyright":599,"fieldtype":683,"meta_data":684,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/94c19c6428/bm-white-robot-arms-on-automated-ev-battery-components-production-line.jpg","asset",{"alt":599,"title":599,"source":599,"copyright":599},"Mar 28, 2024","28th March 2024",[],[],1792773903360]