CATL and BYD continue to dominate China’s battery market

The production curve for batteries in China continues to have only one direction: upwards! In October, electric car batteries with an energy content of 59.2 GWh were produced there. More than two thirds of this came from the two market leaders CATL and BYD.

First, a brief look at the market as a whole: according to figures from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA), 59.2 gigawatt-hours of batteries were produced for the electric car sector in October. Compared to September, this corresponds to an increase of 8.6 per cent; compared to October 2023, the growth is a whopping 51 per cent.

The two outstanding top players in the industry were able to slightly increase their market shares. CATL produced 25.32 GWh of EV batteries in October, giving it a market share of 42.78 per cent. BYD produced 15.82 GWh or 26.73 per cent of the total market. Together, the two companies have a market share of 69.51 per cent, compared to 68.42 per cent in September.

To express the market power of the two companies in another way: BYD in second place comes in with a higher market share than the remaining eight companies in the top ten combined. Behind CATL and BYD, no other battery manufacturer has a double-digit market share. CALB in third place is at 6.61 per cent, VW partner Gotion High-Tech at 5.2 per cent and SVOLT Energy in fifth place only accounts for 3.2 per cent of the market.

LGES and Mercedes partner Farasis Energy have a market share of 0.7 and 0.43 per cent respectively in China. That is still enough for a place in the top 15.

However, it is not only the list of manufacturers that is interesting, but also the cell chemistries. It is now clear that the Chinese market is focussing on LFP batteries. At 47.0 GWh, lithium iron phosphate accounted for 79.4 per cent of the market. The 47 GWh corresponds to an increase of 75 per cent compared to the previous year. ‘Ternary’ cell chemistries (i.e. NMC or NCA) account for only 20.6 per cent of the market at 12.2 GWh. Production in October 2024 is even 1.1 per cent down on the previous year.

CATL is the undisputed market leader for ternary batteries with 75.12 per cent. Here, the number two, CALB, just manages to achieve a double-digit market share (10.64 per cent), while SVOLT Energy in third place accounts for 3.64 per cent of the market.

The situation is much tighter for LFP batteries: CATL (34.42 per cent) and BYD (33.67 per cent) are almost on a par. Gotion (6.19 per cent), CALB (5.57 per cent) and Rept Battero Energy (3.44 per cent) complete the top five.

cnevpost.com