Chinese Companies Suffer a Setback

The three South Korean battery makers' combined share of the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market has topped 30 percent.

The three South Korean battery makers' combined share of the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market has topped 30 percent for the first time.

The total battery energy volume of EVs registered in the world in February arrived at 7.3 GWh, down 6.2 percent from a year earlier, SNE Research said on March 2. A slowdown in the Chinese market was the main cause of the decline.

Japan's Panasonic was the largest supplier of EV batteries. The company more than doubled its battery supply from a year ago thank to a surge in its supply of batteries for the Tesla Model 3 in the United States.

In contrast, most Chinese companies including CATL suffered a setback due to the sluggish Chinese market.

LG Chem climbed to second place by overtaking CATL. Its battery supply amounted to 1.7 GWh in February,  2.4 times that of a year ago. Samsung SDI ranked fourth place with 0.4 GWh, a 22.7 percent increase. SK Innovation’s battery supply expanded 2.1-fold to 0.2 GWh, with its ranking improved by five notches.

The three Korean battery makers were all among the global top 10 players. Their combined market share hit 30.8 percent, more than double the 14.2 percent a year earlier.

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