China’s lithium-ion battery market is booming thanks to government support for electric vehicles, according to a new report from CCM (a major market analysis firm for the country’s chemicals, agriculture, food, and life sciences, markets).

The report revealed that in May 2016 alone, around RMB2.6 billion (~$400 million) was put into the country’s lithium-ion battery sector — most of the funds originating from Tianqi Lithium, Ganfeng Lithium, and GEM CO.

The growth of the Chinese electrochemical energy storage market over the past 5 years has notably eclipsed the global average, the report also notes, with a CAGR (2010–2015) of 110%. That’s roughly 6 times higher than the global figure. The lithium-ion battery market accounted for about 66% of that market.

“In 2014, China produced 5.43 billion Li-ion batteries, with a CAGR of around 40% and accounting for about 70% of the total output in the global, according to CCM’s new report Market and Development Trend of Li-ion Battery in China, 2016–2020,” Green Car Congress writes.

“The output of Li-ion battery exceeded 5 million for the first time in 2014 and reached 5.6 million in 2015, up by 3.13% year-in-year. As for the capacity, in 2015, the domestic output of power Li-ion battery increased to 15.7 GWh, triple than that of the last year. With the price of upstream raw materials increasing coupled with rising sales volume of the downstream products, most listed Li-ion battery companies have recorded great growth in both its revenues and net profits, CCM said.”

Many major companies have been investing in the country’s lithium-ion battery industry — Samsung SDI and LG Chem amongst them. As growth continues, local investment levels are likely to continue rising as well. Up to a point, of course.

Source: Cleantechnica