Electric vehicle battery separator loading increased by 25% from January to September… Excluding China 43%↑

From January to September this year, global electric vehicle battery separator loading continued to grow solidly thanks to the increase in battery loading and rapid growth in markets excluding China.

According to SNE Research, an energy market research company, on the 10th, the total volume of separators used in pure electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV), and hybrid vehicles (HEV) registered around the world from January to September was about 16.218 billion ㎡, an increase of 24.8% compared to the same period last year.

During the same period, markets excluding China showed relatively high growth, increasing 43.0% from the same period last year to 5.423 billion m2. The proportion of total cargo volume also increased by 4.2 percentage points from 29.2% to 33.4%.

Separator is a material that affects lithium-ion battery safety, output performance, and lifespan. Demand is increasing due to the expansion of the electric vehicle market, increased battery capacity per vehicle, and increased application of high energy density cells.

By company, China's Sembcorp maintained first place in the market, recording 4.776 billion m2, a 17.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

Other Chinese companies, 2nd place Senior and 3rd place Sinoma, also showed increases of 30.5% and 19.4%, respectively. Gelek, ranked 4th, increased its market share with a high growth rate of 114.2% compared to the same period last year.

During the same period, Korea SKIET decreased by 20.2% and ranked 10th.

By nationality, the market share of Chinese companies in the third quarter of this year was 92.2%, up 0.6 percentage points from the second quarter (91.6%) and up 4.0 percentage points from the same period last year (88.2%). During the same period, the Japanese population decreased from 7.4% to 5.6%, and the Korean population decreased from 4.4% to 2.2%.

SNE Research analyzed, “While Chinese companies with scale and cost competitiveness are absorbing most of the increased demand, Korean and Japanese companies are restructuring their business structures focusing on high value-added products, local supply in North America and Europe, and products for energy storage systems (ESS).”

He continued, “Future competitiveness is expected to depend on the diversification of EV and ESS customers, ultra-thin film and high heat-resistant product technology, local supply systems in North America and Europe, and the speed of cost structure improvement.”