Lithium iron phosphate is a kind of electrode material for lithium-ion batteries, with the chemical formula of LiFePO4 (hereinafter referred to as LFP), which is mainly used in various lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium iron phosphate presents olivine structure. As the cathode material of the battery, it is coated on aluminum foil and connected with the cathode of the battery. When the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery is charged, lithium ions (li+) are de embedded from the positive pole and enter the negative pole through the electrolyte. At the same time, electrons (e-) move from the positive pole to the negative pole from the external circuit to ensure the charge balance of the positive and negative poles; During discharge, lithium ion (li+) is removed from the negative electrode and embedded into the positive electrode through electrolyte.
The capacity of lithium iron phosphate is low (~170mah/g) and the voltage to lithium is low, which makes the "ideal mass energy density" of iron lithium battery monomer about 25% higher than that of high nickel ternary battery. Safety, service life and cost are the main advantages of lithium iron phosphate.
The properties of lithium iron phosphate are determined by its elemental composition and crystal structure: the olivine structure of lithium iron phosphate has a polyanion framework, and the structural elements are Lio 6 octahedron (lithium in the body center), FeO 6 octahedron (iron in the body center) and PO 4 tetrahedron (phosphorus in the body center). The strong P-O covalent bond in the phosphate radical can stabilize the oxygen atom when the battery is fully charged to avoid its oxidation and oxygen release. Therefore, this structure makes lithium iron phosphate have high safety and cycle life. At the same time, the lithium ion of lithium iron phosphate only has one-dimensional diffusion channels. Compared with the lithium ion binary diffusion channels of layered materials (lithium cobalt oxide, ternary), the ionic conductivity and electronic conductivity are lower.
Features of lithium iron phosphate products
According to the in-depth analysis of the current situation and development prospects of China's lithium iron phosphate industry (2022-2029) released by Guanyan report network, the upstream of lithium iron phosphate is mainly lithium source, iron source, phosphorus source and other raw materials, and the downstream is used to prepare lithium-ion batteries. The main application fields of lithium-ion batteries can be divided into power batteries and non power batteries. Among them, in the field of power batteries, lithium iron phosphate is mainly used as the cathode material for the power system of various types of pure electric and plug-in hybrid new energy vehicles; In the field of non power batteries, they are mainly used in the energy storage of 5g base stations, the energy storage of new energy power generation terminals, and the lead-acid market substitution of light power.
1、 Upstream industry
The main raw materials of lithium iron phosphate include lithium source, iron source, phosphorus source, etc. the price of some raw materials needs to be reprocessed through upstream mining, and finally processed into lithium iron phosphate. The product processing process is long and the information transmission is fast. In addition, upstream products are bulk commodities such as minerals and chemicals, which are greatly affected by supply and demand factors, and they are cyclical industries. If the price of major raw materials fluctuates significantly, it will directly lead to fluctuations in the cost of lithium iron phosphate products, and then affect the profitability of enterprises.
1. Lithium source
Lithium is a metal element with the element symbol Li. The corresponding simple substance is a silvery white soft metal, which is also the metal with the lowest density. Used in atomic reactors, light alloys and batteries. Lithium battery has the advantages of high open circuit voltage, high specific energy, wide operating temperature range, discharge balance, self discharge electronics and so on. It has long-term demand rigidity and demand prospects in the field of new energy vehicle power batteries and energy storage.
Due to the most negative electrode potential, lithium is the most active metal among known elements (including radioactive elements). In nature, it mainly exists in the form of spodumene, lepidolite and phosphorite.
In terms of the current situation of lithium extraction from domestic salt lakes, the scale is still small and the utilization rate is insufficient. According to statistics, the total output of lithium extraction from Qinghai Salt Lake has increased from 21000 tons to 49000 tons of LCE from 2017 to 2020., The average capacity utilization rate of the industry is only 52% (2019 data). At present, the industry boom is at a high level, and the R & D investment of enterprises is increasing. It is expected that with the gradual maturity of technology, the lithium extraction capacity and utilization rate of salt lake are expected to continue to improve.
In terms of the overall demand structure of lithium resources, due to its excellent energy storage properties, it is widely used in batteries and is currently the most widely used battery. According to the data, 74% of the world's lithium was used in downstream battery production in 2021. Since 2021, thanks to the sharp increase in the production and sales of China's new energy vehicles, the demand for lithium resources has increased significantly, and the supply has remained tight. As for the current situation, there is still a large gap between China's new energy vehicles and the penetration rate of 50%, which will promote the continuous growth of lithium resource demand.
2. Iron source
The iron sources of lithium iron phosphate are mainly divided into iron elemental (iron block), ferrous compounds (ferrous oxalate, ferrous sulfate) and ferric compounds (iron oxide).
Simple iron: liquid phase + nitric acid method uses iron block as raw material, and the cost is high. German nano iron sources are divided into self-made and purchased. Self made iron nitrate is purchased as iron source, and the unit price is high.
Divalent iron: the raw material is mainly the by-product of titanium dioxide from sulfuric acid method, and the supply is relatively abundant. The iron source of ferrous oxalate line is similar to that of phosphoric acid railway line, mainly ferrous sulfate. As the main by-product of titanium dioxide produced by sulfuric acid process, the output of ferrous sulfate has a significant positive relationship with the output of titanium dioxide. According to the statistics of Baichuan Yingfu, the output of titanium dioxide in China reached 3.79 million tons in 2021, with a slight increase of 8% year-on-year. Among them, the output of ferrous sulfate, a by-product of titanium dioxide by sulfuric acid method, is about 1000 tons. Longmang Baili and CNNC titanium dioxide are two leading enterprises in China. Relying on their own advantages in by-product raw materials, they have planned 100000 tons and 500000 tons of iron phosphate production capacity projects respectively. It is expected that the first phase of 50000 tons and 100000 tons will be put into operation in the second half of 2022.
3. Phosphorus source
Monoammonium phosphate is often used as raw material in liquid phase method. Solid phase method usually uses iron phosphate (Hunan sublimation uses monoammonium phosphate), which comes indirectly from phosphoric acid or monoammonium phosphate.
Phosphorus chemical industry is an industry that takes phosphorus ore as raw material and produces various phosphorus containing products through physical and chemical processing. The products mainly include phosphorus fertilizer, phosphorus containing pesticides, elemental phosphorus, phosphoric acid, phosphate, organic phosphates, etc.
The concentration of phosphate fertilizer industry is high. According to the data of China phosphate and compound fertilizer industry association, 44% of domestic phosphate fertilizer production is diammonium phosphate, 41% is monoammonium phosphate, which is the main phosphate fertilizer. The leading enterprises in the first tier of domestic phosphate fertilizer are Yuntianhua and Guizhou phosphating, with market share of 17.2% and 15.8% respectively in 2019, much higher than the second tier enterprises xinyangfeng, Hubei Yihua, Hubei Xiangyun, etc. According to zhuochuang information, Hubei Xiangyun and xinyangfeng are the first tier leaders of monoammonium phosphate in China. The market share in 2020 is 11.5% and 10.5% respectively. The pattern of diammonium phosphate is more concentrated. Yuntianhua and Guizhou kaiphosphorus are the first tier leaders. The market share in 2020 is 21.4% and 18.7% respectively.
The annual output of domestic monoammonium phosphate is at the level of 20million tons, of which the industrial monoammonium phosphate industry demand has reached the level of one million tons. According to the annual report, the leading enterprise Chuanfa longmang's output of industrial monoammonium phosphate in 2020 was 364800 tons, with a year-on-year increase of 52.57%. It is the world's largest industrial monoammonium phosphate production enterprise with production and sales volume, and its export volume exceeds 50% of the total domestic export volume.
With the increasingly strict environmental protection supervision, the environmental protection and cost pressure of thermal phosphoric acid enterprises continue to increase, especially the small-scale phosphoric acid enterprises with heavy pollution have difficulties in the transformation of cleaner production, and they are the first to stop production or withdraw, resulting in a downward trend in the effective capacity of phosphoric acid. The apparent consumption of phosphoric acid remained basically stable, at the level of 1.75 million tons; After 2018, the output fell slightly with the effective capacity. In 2020, China's phosphoric acid output was 2.12 million tons, of which 380000 tons were exported.
2、 Midstream industry
1. Market size
Due to policy factors, the market size of China's lithium iron phosphate industry was in a downward trend from 2017 to 2019, falling to 3.969 billion yuan in 2019. With the sharp decline of new energy vehicle subsidies in 2020, the market size of the lithium iron phosphate industry rose rapidly, reaching 34.693 billion yuan by 2021. The details are as follows:
2. Supply scale
After 2019, various battery enterprises have successively launched battery structure optimization schemes, such as CTP battery launched by Ningde times, blade battery launched by BYD, and JTM battery launched by GuoXuan high tech, so as to achieve the effect of improving energy density by optimizing the module structure. In this context, the more cost-effective lithium iron phosphate battery has returned to the public's view. Since the second half of 2020, popular models such as BYD Khan, Hongguang miniev and iron lithium Model3 have been listed one after another, driving the penetration rate of lithium iron phosphate battery in new energy passenger vehicles to continue to increase. In 2021, the output of China's lithium iron phosphate industry has reached 421800 tons.
3. Demand scale
From 2017 to 2019, the national subsidy focused on the assessment of battery energy density. Since 2017, the country has included the energy density of battery system into the assessment standard for the first time. High energy density and long endurance mileage have become important assessment indicators for new energy vehicle enterprises to obtain subsidies. Power battery enterprises have turned to vigorously develop ternary lithium batteries, and the market share of lithium iron phosphate has fallen sharply. From 2019 to now, the national subsidy has declined significantly, battery enterprises have launched battery structure optimization schemes, and popular models equipped with lithium iron batteries have been launched. The demand of lithium iron phosphate industry has reached 402000 tons in 2021.
4. Supply and demand balance analysis
After 2019, affected by the decline of national subsidies and technological progress, with the increasing support of national industrial policies for the development of new energy vehicles and the continuous growth of terminal demand driven by market demand, a large amount of capital poured into the lithium iron phosphate industry, resulting in a sharp expansion of production capacity. The investment scale of low-end cathode materials has exceeded the market demand, resulting in a structural overcapacity situation of low-end overcapacity and tight high-end capacity. With the increasing requirements for material safety and energy density in terminal application scenarios, structural overcapacity has emerged in the lithium iron phosphate industry. The production and sales rate fell to 95.31% in 2021, and China's lithium iron phosphate industry maintained a balance between supply and demand.
3. Market competition
At present, China's small and medium-sized enterprises that lack core competitiveness gradually withdraw from the market, while some lithium iron phosphate manufacturers occupy the main market share with the core preparation technology of precursors. The market competition is intensifying and the concentration is rising. From the perspective of production enterprises, German nano continues to lead the annual output with its stable customer channels and capacity advantages; GuoXuan high tech has expanded its territory in the field of energy storage and bicycles, and the demand for self-produced lithium iron is stable, followed by it; Hunan Yuneng, beiteri and Hubei Wanrun are the solid backing of market supply, showing rapid growth and great potential. In 2021, the top four manufacturers of lithium iron phosphate were Hunan Yuneng, German nano, Longpan technology and Hubei Wanrun, accounting for more than half of the total shipments, presenting a relatively centralized market pattern.
3、 Downstream industry
The main downstream of lithium iron phosphate is the lithium iron phosphate battery industry. At present, lithium iron phosphate battery belongs to the national key development industry. As the technological process, cost control ability and customer channels have been relatively mature, the sales of lithium iron phosphate battery products mainly depends on the fluctuation of downstream market demand. If there are market fluctuations in the main application fields of lithium iron phosphate batteries, it will have a certain impact on the industry. At present, China is one of the largest producers of lithium iron phosphate batteries in the world, and the downstream industry has a large demand. From the perspective of cost control and national strategy, China's demand for lithium iron phosphate is relatively urgent, so the sales of lithium iron phosphate industry mainly depends on the downstream demand.
Lithium iron phosphate battery is a lithium-ion battery using lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the positive material and carbon as the negative material. The rated voltage of the monomer is 3.2V and the charging cut-off voltage is 3.6v~3.65v.
During the charging process, some lithium ions in lithium iron phosphate are removed and transferred to the negative electrode through the electrolyte, and embedded into the negative carbon material; At the same time, electrons are released from the positive pole and reach the negative pole from the external circuit to maintain the balance of the chemical reaction. In the process of discharge, lithium ions fall out of the main pole and reach the positive pole through the electrolyte. At the same time, the negative pole releases electrons and reaches the positive pole from the external circuit to provide energy for the outside world.
From the application side, at present, lithium iron phosphate batteries have a high penetration rate in the field of new energy commercial vehicles and energy storage batteries. In the field of new energy passenger vehicles, the domestic penetration rate is about 35%. Some overseas vehicle manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Daimler have begun bidding for lithium iron phosphate models. The domestic lithium iron phosphate model 3 has been partially exported to Europe. It is expected that the penetration rate of lithium iron phosphate models in Europe will gradually increase in the future.
From the perspective of shipment volume, according to the data of China automotive power battery industry innovation alliance, the shipment volume of lithium iron phosphate battery has reached 117.10gw by 2021, and it is expected to reach 225.42gw by 2022, gradually expanding the leading edge compared with ternary battery.
Lithium iron phosphate is mainly used in the power system of new energy vehicles in the field of power batteries. According to the different application fields, the application proportion of lithium iron phosphate is also different. In terms of market size, by 2021, the market size of lithium iron phosphate in the field of power batteries in China has reached 20.211 billion yuan, an increase of 1028.48% year-on-year, and has become the most important segment market.
The application of lithium iron phosphate in the field of non power batteries mainly involves three directions: 5g base station energy storage, new energy power generation end energy storage, and lead-acid market substitution. In terms of market size, lithium iron phosphate also showed explosive growth in the field of non power batteries in 2021, with the market size reaching 14.481 billion yuan, an increase of 298.68% year-on-year.
