The marketization of LMFP batteries is accelerating
Table of Contents
It is estimated that lithium manganese iron phosphate cathode materials are expected to usher in a certain scale of shipments in 2023. By 2025, the shipment of LMFP cathode materials will exceed 350,000 tons.
LMFP has entered the inflection point of marketization
With the decline of new energy vehicle policy subsidies and the soaring price of lithium battery raw materials, the cost advantage of lithium iron phosphate batteries has gradually weakened. In addition, its gram capacity is currently close to the theoretical limit, and it is inevitable to find new cathode materials.
Lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP), as an upgraded version of lithium iron phosphate, is a new type of cathode material obtained by adding manganese on the basis of lithium iron phosphate, which takes into account high energy density and high safety. Under the pressure of soaring cobalt prices, lithium manganese iron phosphate has gradually entered the public eye. The comprehensive performance advantages have made lithium manganese iron phosphate more and more popular in the market.
The number of players such as battery companies and cathode material manufacturers in this field has increased, and industrialization has accelerated. It is estimated that lithium manganese iron phosphate cathode materials are expected to usher in a certain scale of shipments in 2023. By 2025, the shipment of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials will exceed 350,000 tons, and the market penetration rate of lithium iron phosphate materials will exceed 15%.
Giant companies collectively deploy LMFP
Although lithium manganese iron phosphate is still in the initial stage of market application, its potential market space in the future may be at the level of tens of billions or even hundreds of billions. Aiming at this expectation, battery companies and cathode material companies have acted one after another. At present, in terms of battery companies, CATL, BYD, CALB, Farasis, GOTION HIGH-TECH, SVOLT, PHYLION, REPT, TIANNENG, etc. are all increasing the layout of the lithium manganese phosphate track.
In September 2022, Farasis stated at the strategy and new product launch conference that it plans to launch the first generation of lithium manganese iron phosphate products in 2023. In August of the same year, CALB released the OS high manganese iron lithium battery, which became another innovative product for the TWh era.
In August 2022, PHYLION and HENGCHUANG Nano signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Yancheng. The two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation on lithium manganese iron phosphate products, and will jointly improve the industrial chain of lithium manganese iron phosphate products.
As early as December 2021, CATL invested 413 million RMB in LMFP manufacturer Lithitech and became its largest shareholder. It is reported that Lithitech has an existing production line with an annual output of 2,000 tons of lithium manganese iron phosphate, and plans to build a new production line with an annual output of 3,000 tons of lithium manganese iron phosphate. GOTION HIGH-TECH has applied for a large number of patents related to cathode materials, including the self-developed “FP1865140-15Ah square lithium manganese iron phosphate lithium ion battery”.
REPT said that from 2023 to 2024, the energy density of the company’s lithium manganese iron phosphate will reach 500Wh/L, supporting a battery life of 800 kilometers for pure electric vehicles. TIANNENG has also publicly stated that the company has the production capacity of high nickel ternary, lithium iron phosphate, lithium manganese iron phosphate, ternary composite manganese lithium and other products.
In September 2022, Dynanonic’s new type phosphate-based cathode material production base project with an annual output of 110,000 tons will be officially put into operation in Qujing, Yunnan. In July, Ronbay, a leading cathode material company, announced the acquisition of Skland, which focuses on the subdivision of lithium manganese iron phosphate, and currently has an annual production capacity of 6,200 tons.
At present, the company’s new production line of lithium manganese iron phosphate has been successfully debugged, and the shipment volume has reached 200 tons/month. There is no doubt that the collective actions of battery and material companies will drive lithium manganese iron phosphate batteries to quickly enter the market-oriented scale-up channel.
LMFP market demand is accelerating
From the perspective of lithium battery technology evolution, the phosphate system battery based on high manganese is becoming an important direction for the evolution of power battery technology. The direction of market demand is also gradually changing.
Judging from the support and selection of global car companies, whether it is Tesla, Volkswagen and other international brands, or NIO, Ideal, etc., or Geely, Great Wall, etc., are increasing the introduction of supporting applications for lithium manganese phosphate batteries. Based on various considerations such as safety, cost, performance, and recycling, coupled with the continuous iteration of battery technology, it is expected that high-manganese phosphate system batteries will occupy a larger market share.
It is worth noting that due to the instability of the dual-voltage platform and the technical problem of low conductivity has not been resolved, the current preparation process of lithium manganese iron phosphate still has room for improvement. At this stage, lithium manganese iron phosphate is more suitable for doping with positive electrode materials such as ternary (8 series), lithium manganese oxide, and lithium cobalt oxide.
In the case of doping lithium manganese iron phosphate with the ternary 8 series, its energy density is equivalent to that of the ternary 5 series, but compared with the ternary 5 series, it has higher safety and cycle performance, and the composite value is obvious. Judging from the current market application situation, lithium manganese iron phosphate will gradually penetrate from the application scenarios of small powered light vehicles to the high powered scenarios.
The demand in the downstream application market is accelerating, and the number of enterprises entering the lithium iron manganese phosphate industry has increased. In the next 2-3 years, LMFP will be applied more in the form of compound ternary materials. In the long run, as its cost decreases and its cycle performance improves, the upgrade process from auxiliary materials to main materials (replacing LFP) will be accelerated.
The marketization of LMFP batteries is accelerating
It is estimated that lithium manganese iron phosphate cathode materials are expected to usher in a certain scale of shipments in 2023. By 2025, the shipment of LMFP cathode materials will exceed 350,000 tons.
LMFP has entered the inflection point of marketization
With the decline of new energy vehicle policy subsidies and the soaring price of lithium battery raw materials, the cost advantage of lithium iron phosphate batteries has gradually weakened. In addition, its gram capacity is currently close to the theoretical limit, and it is inevitable to find new cathode materials.
Lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP), as an upgraded version of lithium iron phosphate, is a new type of cathode material obtained by adding manganese on the basis of lithium iron phosphate, which takes into account high energy density and high safety. Under the pressure of soaring cobalt prices, lithium manganese iron phosphate has gradually entered the public eye. The comprehensive performance advantages have made lithium manganese iron phosphate more and more popular in the market.
The number of players such as battery companies and cathode material manufacturers in this field has increased, and industrialization has accelerated. It is estimated that lithium manganese iron phosphate cathode materials are expected to usher in a certain scale of shipments in 2023. By 2025, the shipment of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials will exceed 350,000 tons, and the market penetration rate of lithium iron phosphate materials will exceed 15%.
Giant companies collectively deploy LMFP
Although lithium manganese iron phosphate is still in the initial stage of market application, its potential market space in the future may be at the level of tens of billions or even hundreds of billions. Aiming at this expectation, battery companies and cathode material companies have acted one after another. At present, in terms of battery companies, CATL, BYD, CALB, Farasis, GOTION HIGH-TECH, SVOLT, PHYLION, REPT, TIANNENG, etc. are all increasing the layout of the lithium manganese phosphate track.
In September 2022, Farasis stated at the strategy and new product launch conference that it plans to launch the first generation of lithium manganese iron phosphate products in 2023. In August of the same year, CALB released the OS high manganese iron lithium battery, which became another innovative product for the TWh era.
In August 2022, PHYLION and HENGCHUANG Nano signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Yancheng. The two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation on lithium manganese iron phosphate products, and will jointly improve the industrial chain of lithium manganese iron phosphate products.
As early as December 2021, CATL invested 413 million RMB in LMFP manufacturer Lithitech and became its largest shareholder. It is reported that Lithitech has an existing production line with an annual output of 2,000 tons of lithium manganese iron phosphate, and plans to build a new production line with an annual output of 3,000 tons of lithium manganese iron phosphate. GOTION HIGH-TECH has applied for a large number of patents related to cathode materials, including the self-developed “FP1865140-15Ah square lithium manganese iron phosphate lithium ion battery”.
REPT said that from 2023 to 2024, the energy density of the company’s lithium manganese iron phosphate will reach 500Wh/L, supporting a battery life of 800 kilometers for pure electric vehicles. TIANNENG has also publicly stated that the company has the production capacity of high nickel ternary, lithium iron phosphate, lithium manganese iron phosphate, ternary composite manganese lithium and other products.
In September 2022, Dynanonic’s new type phosphate-based cathode material production base project with an annual output of 110,000 tons will be officially put into operation in Qujing, Yunnan. In July, Ronbay, a leading cathode material company, announced the acquisition of Skland, which focuses on the subdivision of lithium manganese iron phosphate, and currently has an annual production capacity of 6,200 tons.
At present, the company’s new production line of lithium manganese iron phosphate has been successfully debugged, and the shipment volume has reached 200 tons/month. There is no doubt that the collective actions of battery and material companies will drive lithium manganese iron phosphate batteries to quickly enter the market-oriented scale-up channel.
LMFP market demand is accelerating
From the perspective of lithium battery technology evolution, the phosphate system battery based on high manganese is becoming an important direction for the evolution of power battery technology. The direction of market demand is also gradually changing.
Judging from the support and selection of global car companies, whether it is Tesla, Volkswagen and other international brands, or NIO, Ideal, etc., or Geely, Great Wall, etc., are increasing the introduction of supporting applications for lithium manganese phosphate batteries. Based on various considerations such as safety, cost, performance, and recycling, coupled with the continuous iteration of battery technology, it is expected that high-manganese phosphate system batteries will occupy a larger market share.
It is worth noting that due to the instability of the dual-voltage platform and the technical problem of low conductivity has not been resolved, the current preparation process of lithium manganese iron phosphate still has room for improvement. At this stage, lithium manganese iron phosphate is more suitable for doping with positive electrode materials such as ternary (8 series), lithium manganese oxide, and lithium cobalt oxide.
In the case of doping lithium manganese iron phosphate with the ternary 8 series, its energy density is equivalent to that of the ternary 5 series, but compared with the ternary 5 series, it has higher safety and cycle performance, and the composite value is obvious. Judging from the current market application situation, lithium manganese iron phosphate will gradually penetrate from the application scenarios of small powered light vehicles to the high powered scenarios.
The demand in the downstream application market is accelerating, and the number of enterprises entering the lithium iron manganese phosphate industry has increased. In the next 2-3 years, LMFP will be applied more in the form of compound ternary materials. In the long run, as its cost decreases and its cycle performance improves, the upgrade process from auxiliary materials to main materials (replacing LFP) will be accelerated.
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