ASIACHEM data shows that, in 2016, China 3C LIB, power LIB and energy storage LIB market overall output is 58.4GWh. Among, pouch cell output is around 23.4GWh. Base on 1GWh pouch cell needs 3.5mnm2 Al plastic film, then demand of Al plastic film is about 81.9mnm2.
Al plastic film was joint R&D by Showa Denko Group and SONY in 1999. It is a high strength and high barrier multi-layer compound, made of multi kinds of plastics, aluminum foil and adhesive. It is packaging material of pouch cell and also the link which has quite high technical difficulty in LIB materials’ field. Currently, China Al plastic film market has two characteristics.
1. Localization rate is low
Because of quite high technology and manufacturing threshold, domestic Al plastic film market is mainly monopolized by Japan DNP, Showa Denko Group, Toppan Printing and South Korea Youl Chon Chemical etc. enterprises. Domestic enterprises, however, only Shanghai Zijiang New Material, FSPG Hi-tech Co. Ltd., Dongguan Advanced Material Technology (AMT) and DM Reflective Material etc. have realized mass production and bulk supply to battery enterprises. In 2016, domestic enterprises Al plastic film market share is only around 5%.
2. Sales volume of domestic made Al plastic film is mainly on 3C
Currently, clients of domestic made Al plastic film are mainly 3C LIB of 2nd-tier and 3rd-tier enterprises. Take Zijiang New Material as an example, its actual capacity at present is about 500knm2/month and above 90% of its Al plastic film product supplies to 3C LIB enterprises.
In Apr, 2016, Shenzhen Selen Science & Technology purchased Japan Mie Factory, which is mainly engaging in Al plastic film manufacture and held by Japan Toppan Printing with JPY 9.5bn (about CNY 550M), together with related devices, inventory and raw material etc. assets. Japan Toppan Printing would transfer its whole patents and patent technology of Al plastic film products’ manufacture and sales, and award Selen Science & Technology monopolized exploitation license in China and non-monopolized exploitation license in Japan.
On Jan 23, 2017, Selen Science & Technology released announcement that, Selen Composite Material Technology (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., wholly owned subsidiary of the company, planned to invest and new build LIB Al plastic film pouch products production line. It is reported that, the project is located in Changzhou, Jiangsu and capacity planning is 3mnm2/month. Design, construct and operation technical support and technical service of the project will be provided by Japan Toppan Printing, Toyo Seikan and T&T Enertechno. ASIACHEM believes that, if this project put into operation, Selen Science & Technology may become Al plastic film supplier which ranks No.1 in China and No.3 in the world.
Except Selen Science & Technology, other enterprises in China, e.g. Crown Advanced Material, Suzhou First and Zhuhai Smoothway Electronic Materials etc. start to enter Al plastic film industry. ASIACHEM estimates that, if 30% of construction projects of these enterprises put into operation, China Al plastic film capacity will reach 90.70mnm2/a in 2019 (Capacity of Japan Mie Factory of Selen Science & Technology is included).
Consider development current situation and market demands of LIB industry etc. factors, and rapid increase of 3C LIB, represented by wearable intelligent device and power LIB, represented by new energy vehicle battery’s development trend, ASIACHEM believes that, in the future, China Al plastic film market size will increase sharply. If China LIB output will estimated to be 105GWh in 2019, among, pouch cell is about 42GWh, then China Al plastic film market size will reach around CNY 5bn and localization rate will be more than 30%.
