China’s power battery installed capacity in July edges down MoM, but jumps YoY

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In July, China's power battery installed capacity reached 41.6 GWh, reflecting a 2.9% month-on-month decline but a 29% year-on-year jump, according to data by the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (CAPBIIA).

Of the batteries installed last month, ternary lithium batteries accounted for 11.4 GWh, or 27.3% of the total, marking a 2.3% month-on-month rise and a 7.5% year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries reached 30.1 GWh, comprising 72.5% of the total, though this represented a 4.8% month-on-month drop, it also showed a robust 39.2% year-on-year leap.

In July, a total of 39 power battery companies in China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market had their batteries installed onto vehicles, an increase of three companies compared to the same period last year. The top three companies contributed 31.7 GWh of power battery installations, accounting for 76.3% of the total. The top five companies delivered 35 GWh, representing 84.2% of the total, while the top ten companies combined accounted for 39.7 GWh, or 95.5% of the total installations. Notably, the top ten's market share decreased by 1.6 percentage points compared to last year.

For the first seven months of 2024, China's cumulative power battery installations hit 244.9 GWh, jumping 32.8% year-on-year. Ternary batteries contributed 73.6 GWh, representing 30.1% of the total and a 25.7% year-on-year growth. LFP batteries led with 171.1 GWh, capturing 69.9% of the market and recording a 36.3% year-on-year rise.

Year-to-date, China's NEV market saw 51 power battery suppliers providing installation support, an increase of three companies from the previous year. The top three companies in this period installed a total of 189 GWh of power batteries, capturing 77.3% of the total market. The top five companies reached 208.3 GWh, making up 85% of the total, while the top ten companies combined delivered 235 GWh, accounting for 96% of all installations.

Driven by the booming NEV market, China's total production of power and other batteries in July reached 91.8 GWh, an 8.6% month-on-month increase and a 33.1% jump compared to the same period last year. Cumulatively, from January to July, total battery production hit 521.8 GWh, up 36.2% year-on-year.

Blade Battery; photo credit: BYD

In terms of sales, China sold 86.3 GWh of power and other batteries in July, a 6.4% decrease month-on-month but a substantial 49.9% surge year-on-year. Power batteries alone accounted for 62.2 GWh, marking a 10.3% month-on-month dip but a 19% year-on-year increase, making up 72.1% of the total sales—a 3.1 percentage point drop from the previous month.

From January to July of this year, cumulative sales of power and other batteries reached 488.9 GWh in China, reflecting a 41.9% year-on-year soar. Power batteries made up 380.3 GWh of this total, growing 25.3% year-on-year but seeing a slight decrease in market share by 1.2 percentage points compared to last year.

China's battery exports in July amounted to 15.6 GWh, a 15.5% month-on-month shrink but a 28.9% year-on-year jump, representing 18% of the month's total sales. Power battery exports reached 9.6 GWh, down 27.2% month-on-month and 13.1% year-on-year, making up 61.5% of total exports—a 10 percentage point decrease from the previous month.

For the first seven months of the year, China exported 89.2 GWh of power and other batteries, up 28.9% year-on-year, accounting for 18.3% of cumulative sales during this period. The year-to-date power battery exports reached 69.6 GWh, growing by 5.2% year-on-year but seeing a 3.5 percentage point year-on-year decline in their share of total exports.