One、 Background of Lithium Battery Adhesive Policy

With China actively implementing the dual carbon strategy and promoting the continuous expansion and development of the new energy vehicle industry, the power battery industry, as the most important sector, has become a key support area of national policies. Policy promotion and technological upgrading continuously improve the economic efficiency of lithium-ion batteries, driving the explosive growth of the power battery industry in the early stages of growth. Lithium battery binders, as an important component of lithium batteries, are greatly influenced by international enterprises in terms of upstream key raw material technology and production, and their independent production capacity is weak. In the increasingly competitive field of power batteries and new energy vehicles, coupled with the increasingly tense international environment, the demand for complete localization and policies will drive the sustained development and breakthrough of lithium battery binders in China.

 

Two、 Lithium battery adhesive industry chain

In terms of the situation of China's lithium battery binder industry chain, the upstream mainly consists of raw materials for oil-based and water-based binders, including PVDF, SBR, CMC Na, polyacrylic acid (PAA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and polyimide (PI), which are also gradually commercialized. The CMC Li binder developed by Jingrui Electric Materials has also been successfully mass-produced; The midstream mainly focuses on the production and manufacturing of lithium battery binders, with high barriers to products and raw materials. The midstream has high profits and bargaining power; The downstream mainly includes various application areas of lithium batteries, including power batteries, energy storage, electric tools, and consumer electronics.

Three、 Current Status of Lithium Battery Adhesive Industry

Due to its late start and weak basic research and development capabilities, as well as the poor ecological environment of the entire domestic industry chain, coupled with insufficient purity of domestic binder raw materials and poor equipment, the progress of China's lithium battery binder technology is relatively slow, and there is a significant gap with the advanced level of foreign countries. With the localization of a large amount of raw materials and the continuous increase in downstream demand, domestic lithium battery binder manufacturers are accelerating the localization of lithium battery binders. Data shows that before 2020, with the steady increase in demand for new energy vehicles and other fields in China, the market size of lithium battery binders showed a steady growth trend. In 2021, the domestic sales of new energy vehicles increased significantly, coupled with the continuous tightening of supply and demand of main raw materials. The overall market size of lithium battery binders increased significantly. In 2022, the prices of main raw materials fell, coupled with a slight decrease in the overall growth rate of lithium battery shipments. The growth rate of China's lithium battery binder market size decreased significantly. In 2022, the market size of China's lithium battery binder was 11.35 billion yuan, of which the PVDF market size for lithium batteries was about 6.851 billion yuan.

In terms of the supply of lithium battery binders, due to the fact that the PVDF expansion cycle is generally more than 2 years, and most enterprises are still in the planning or approval stage of new production capacity, the investment in new production capacity in the industry in 2021 is limited. The PVDF production capacity for lithium battery binders is still insufficient, and the growth rate of production capacity is not as significant as downstream demand. In 2022, domestic PVDF production capacity continues to land, and the overall supply and demand of lithium battery binders are tightening and continuously improving. Data shows that the production and demand of lithium battery binders in China in 2022 are about 88100 tons and 86700 tons, respectively.

In terms of changes in the average price of lithium battery binders in China, as the demand for lithium batteries continues to rise, the supply and demand of binders in 2021 continue to tighten, the price of raw material PVDF skyrocketed, and the overall average price of lithium battery binders increased significantly. In 2022, with the continuous landing of domestic PVDF production capacity and the growth of other water-based binder production capacity, the overall average price of binders began to continue to decline. Data shows that the average price of lithium battery binders in China in 2022 is about 130900 yuan/ton.

 

 Four、 Competitive landscape of lithium battery binders

In the market pattern of PVDF binder for lithium batteries, due to the fact that domestic enterprises have not yet reached the corresponding technological level, the Chinese market is currently monopolized by foreign enterprises such as France's Acoma, the United States' Sol and Japan's Wu Yu. In the SBR binder market, ZEON Group, a Japanese company, is a leading enterprise in the development, production, and sales of water-based negative electrode binders. It is the first Japanese company in the world to develop, produce, and sell water-based negative electrode binders. Currently, its global market share accounts for more than 60%. In recent years, China's Jingrui Group has achieved rapid development in negative electrode binders, producing lithium battery binders with advantages such as low dosage, low internal resistance, outstanding low-temperature resistance, and excellent cycling performance. In addition, Blue Ocean Black Stone has successfully achieved the industrialization and application of water-based PAA adhesive for lithium-ion battery positive electrodes, water-based PAA adhesive for silicon-based and graphite negative electrodes, and high-performance membrane coating water-based adhesive material PAA, filling the domestic gap.

 

Five、 Development Trends of Lithium Battery Adhesives

Currently, PVDF is the mainstream positive extreme adhesive and diaphragm coating product. The 4680 battery improves the adhesion between the negative electrode and the separator by increasing the amount of PVDF coating on the negative side of the separator, reduces the problem of powder detachment, and enhances ion conductivity. According to Lianchuang Co., Ltd., the total amount of PVDF used in 4680 batteries will increase to 8%, which is much higher than the 1.5% PVDF used in traditional ternary batteries and the 3.5% PVDF used in lithium iron phosphate batteries. Therefore, with the rapid increase in 4680 batteries, the demand for PVDF will also increase.

 

Data source:

Panoramic analysis of China's lithium battery binder industry in 2023: PVDF prices are falling, and the scale of binders is steadily expanding - Ye Dan - Expert from the Maihua Plastic Think Tank (ibuychem. com)