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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":648,"relatedVideos":649},112472652705144,"74cd6282-defe-416f-bc64-3326e857cf33","LFP cooldown: Huayou exits LFP cathodes as competition mounts","lfp-cooldown-huayou-exits-lfp-cathodes-as-competition-mounts","article/lfp-cooldown-huayou-exits-lfp-cathodes-as-competition-mounts",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":550,"content":560,"excerpt":627,"featured":51,"reporter":628,"_editable":632,"component":633,"seo_title":543,"categories":634,"visibility":640,"author_company":49,"featured_image":641,"seo_description":627,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":646,"formattedArticleDate":647},"07e7fc60-f8ec-419d-991a-4e26074ddca3","2022-06-17 00:00",[],[551],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":554},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":555,"image":556,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":557},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":561,"content":562},"doc",[563,570,575,580,587,592,597,602,607,612,617,622],{"type":564,"attrs":565,"content":566},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[567],{"text":568,"type":569},"Huayou Cobalt has decided to withdraw from producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes, in a sign of the mounting competition in the sector as the cheaper battery material grows in popularity.","text",{"type":564,"attrs":571,"content":572},{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":569},"China’s largest cobalt producer said it would focus on producing nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) cathode “to further improve the concentration of competitive resources and improve the efficiency of capital use.”",{"type":564,"attrs":576,"content":577},{"textAlign":49},[578],{"text":579,"type":569},"The decision comes after a number of new players decided to enter the LFP business in China over the past year, including titanium dioxide producers, as well as companies involved in real estate, fertiliser, and even cashmere. That’s added further pressure on margins in the sector, which is also battling with record high lithium prices.",{"type":581,"attrs":582,"content":584},"heading",{"level":583,"textAlign":49},4,[585],{"text":586,"type":569},"Fierce competition",{"type":564,"attrs":588,"content":589},{"textAlign":49},[590],{"text":591,"type":569},"Around two-thirds of current cathode capacity under construction is for LFP cathodes, according to Benchmark’s Cathode Price Assessment.",{"type":564,"attrs":593,"content":594},{"textAlign":49},[595],{"text":596,"type":569},"“This shows the fierce competition in the LFP business,” Albert Li, China analyst at Benchmark, said.",{"type":564,"attrs":598,"content":599},{"textAlign":49},[600],{"text":601,"type":569},"The use of cheaper LFP batteries has surged in China as battery producers CATL and BYD have improved the technology and increased battery pack energy density. LFP cells accounted for 59% of the batteries installed in electric vehicles in China this year, according to official data.",{"type":564,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605],{"text":606,"type":569},"Still, Benchmark expects LFP cathodes to make up 27% of the market by 2030, due to the lack of LFP cell production outside of China. Almost all LFP battery production is currently based in China and only 4% of LFP batteries are forecasted to be produced outside of China by 2030, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Ion Battery Database.",{"type":564,"attrs":608,"content":609},{"textAlign":49},[610],{"text":611,"type":569},"Huayou said as a result of its decision it would no longer acquire all of the shares of LFP producer Inner Mongolia Shengfan Technology.",{"type":564,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":569},"Shengfan is set to invest RMB 13.5bn ($2.0bn) to build a 300,000 tonnes a year LFP cathode plant within the Ordos Zero-Carbon Industrial Park in Inner Mongolia. It currently has an operational capacity of 15,000 tpa from its plant in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.",{"type":564,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":569},"Huayou is a leading producer of NCM battery materials, which it supplies to LG Chem among others. It wanted to enter the LFP business because they are already qualified to produce NCM cathodes, Li said.",{"type":564,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":569},"Leading cathode producers such as CNGR and Easpring have also decided to enter the LFP cathode business, he said.","Huayou Cobalt has decided to withdraw from producing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes, in a sign of the mounting competition in the sector as the cheaper battery material grows in popularity. China’s largest cobalt producer said it would focus on producing nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) cathode “to further improve the concentration of competitive resources and […]",[629],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":630},{"job_title":555,"image":631,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},{"filename":557},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"07e7fc60-f8ec-419d-991a-4e26074ddca3\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[635,638],{"slug":636,"name":637},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":639,"name":298},"cathode","private",{"id":49,"alt":642,"name":642,"focus":642,"title":642,"source":642,"filename":643,"copyright":642,"fieldtype":644,"meta_data":645,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/92f718df1f/bm-huayou.jpg","asset",{"alt":642,"title":642,"source":642,"copyright":642},"Jun 17, 2022","17th June 2022",[],[],1781512952017]