According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's lithium-ion battery industry maintained a growth trend from January to April 2024. Data from industry standards and association calculations show that total production of lithium batteries in China exceeded 282 GWh during this period, marking a year-on-year increase of 17.5%. In the energy storage sector, national production of energy storage lithium batteries surpassed 48 GWh, while the installed capacity of power type lithium batteries for new energy vehicles reached about 120.4 GWh.
The decrease in prices of lithium battery materials has led to a corresponding reduction in the prices of lithium battery products. From January to April, the total export value of lithium batteries in China was 124.2 billion yuan (approximately $17.52 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 15%.
In the production of first-stage materials from January to April, China produced 735,000 tons of positive electrode materials, 535,000 tons of negative electrode materials, 4.9 billion square meters of separators, and 320,000 tons of electrolytes, all representing a year-on-year increase of over 15%. In the second stage material production, national output of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide reached 171,000 tons and 104,000 tons, respectively. The average prices of battery grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide (micro powder grade) were 104,000 yuan/ton (approximately $14,680/ton) and 98,000 yuan/ton (approximately $13,832/ton), respectively.