South Korean media: CATL, which is firmly in the global lead, begins to enter South Korea's "home court"!
On May 10th, South Korean media "The Herald Economy" published an article stating that Chinese enterprises are increasingly enhancing their influence in the global electric vehicle battery market. While the market share of the three South Korean battery companies outside of China continues to decline, the world's largest electric vehicle battery company, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), has recently established a subsidiary in South Korea and is actively expanding its market. It is expected that the price competition in South Korea's battery industry will also intensify.
The market shares of the three South Korean battery companies LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and SK On in the global electric vehicle battery market outside of China are declining.
According to data from market research firm SNE Research, the total usage of electric vehicle batteries outside of China for January to February this year was 58.3 GWh, an increase of 27.3% compared to the same period last year.
Despite the increase in the use of global electric vehicle batteries, the combined market share of the three South Korean battery companies fell by 6.2 percentage points from 44.8% last year to 38.6%. With the growth of Chinese battery companies, South Korean batteries are losing market share.
The market share of LG Energy Solution's electric vehicle batteries fell from 23.4% to 20.9%, amounting to 12.2 GWh, while Samsung SDI's market share dropped from 11.8% to 7.2%, reaching 4.2 GWh. Only SK On increased its share from 9.6% to 10.5%, reaching 6.1 GWh.
The decline in South Korean companies' market share coincides with the rise of CATL's market share. During the same period, CATL increased its market share from 26.9% to 28.8% with an output of 16.8 GWh.
In the meantime, CATL recently established a company in South Korea and is expanding its market. Analysts believe that this is a strategy to circumvent regulatory restrictions on Chinese batteries such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Critical Raw Materials Regulation. The company is expected to use South Korea as a production and sales base to enter the global market.
It is observed that this move will increase the pressure of price competition in South Korea's battery industry. With the expansion of affordable electric vehicles in recent years, the proportion of LFP batteries is continuously increasing, and it is expected that the competition between South Korean and Chinese enterprises in this field will be very intense.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831723657263433/
Disclaimer: This article only represents the author's personal views.