Benefiting from the steady growth in demand for electrolytes, the carbonate solvent industry has shown good development momentum

Carbonate solvent is an important component of lithium battery electrolyte and has an important impact on the overall performance of the battery. Lithium battery electrolyte is mainly composed of 80%-85% solvent, 10%-12% lithium salt, and 3%-5% additives. Solvent is the core material of lithium battery electrolyte. Currently, the commonly used lithium battery solvents on the market are mainly carbonate solvents. According to different structures, they can be divided into propylene carbonate (PC) and ethylene carbonate (EC). Cyclic carbonate solvents and chain carbonate solvents including dimethyl carbonate (DMC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), and diethyl carbonate (DEC).

According to the mass proportion, DMC accounts for 30%-40%, DEC accounts for 10%-15%, EMC accounts for 10%-15%, EC accounts for 20%-30%, and PC accounts for 20%-30% of the lithium battery electrolyte solvent. The ratio is 5%-10%. The commonly used carbonate solvent is a mixture of five types of solvents.

Under the current background of the vigorous development of the domestic new energy vehicle industry, the market demand for lithium batteries maintains a high growth trend, driving the steady growth of electrolyte demand. According to data from the China Automobile Association, the national new energy vehicle production and sales in 2022 will be 7.058 million and 6.887 million respectively, a year-on-year increase of 96.9% and 93.4% respectively. As a result, domestic lithium battery electrolyte shipments in 2022 have reached 924,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 77.1%. According to the “Carbonate Solvent Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospects Forecast Analysis Report 2023-2028” published by the Industrial Research Center, As the core material of electrolyte, the demand for carbonate solvents continues to rise. In 2022, the domestic carbonate solvent market demand will reach 255,000 tons.

Carbonate solvents are mainly responsible for dissolving lithium salts. The purity of the solvent has an important impact on the electrochemical performance, conductive performance, and safety performance of lithium batteries. At present, domestic carbonate solvent production is still facing the dilemma of high material refining technology. Therefore, the number of domestic companies with the mass production capacity of battery-grade carbonate solvents is still relatively small. Haike Xinyuan and Shenghua New Materials are the two leading companies in the domestic carbonate solvent market, accounting for a large market share. The competition in the domestic carbonate solvent market presents a duopoly pattern.

In recent years, as the domestic lithium battery market maintains high growth, leading companies have continued to increase their production capacity of carbonate solvents and raw materials. At the same time, as many companies accelerate their market deployment, my country’s carbonate solvent production continues to increase. At present, the domestic carbonate solvent market is showing a situation of increasing supply and demand, and the industry development trend is improving.

Industrial analysts people said that carbonate solvent is the core material of lithium battery electrolyte. Currently, the new energy automobile industry is rapidly developing in the terminal application field. Driven by development, its market demand continues to increase. At the same time, as the number of market layout companies continues to increase and leading companies gradually expand production capacity, domestic carbonate solvent production continues to rise. The overall market is showing a “double increase” situation in supply and demand, and the industry development prospects are good.