Non-China market grows 30% to 730,000 tons

L&F tops growth rankings among NCM suppliers

Chinese firms hold 87.3% share as Korean makers accelerate LFP shift

[Provided by SNE Research]
[Provided by SNE Research]

Global cathode material shipments for electric vehicles rose more than 20 percent in the first eight months of this year compared with the same period last year, driven by lithium iron phosphate materials that pushed LFP's share of the total market to 65.4 percent.

According to market research firm SNE Research, global cathode shipments for electric vehicles reached 1.917 million tons from January through August, up 21.8 percent from 1.575 million tons in the same period a year earlier.

Markets outside China grew even faster, rising 30.0 percent to 733,000 tons from 564,000 tons. Their share of total shipments climbed 2.4 percentage points to 38.2 percent from 35.8 percent.

By chemistry, LFP shipments rose 31.8 percent to 1.254 million tons, while NCM and other ternary materials grew just 6.4 percent to 663,000 tons. LFP's overall share rose 5.0 percentage points to 65.4 percent. In markets outside China, LFP's share jumped 14.1 percentage points to 34.9 percent.

The figures suggest LFP is expanding beyond China's domestic market to become the dominant chemistry in Europe, Asia and other overseas markets. The growth-rate gap between LFP and ternary materials widened to 25.4 percentage points, and demand for ternary cathodes continued to narrow toward premium and high-performance vehicle segments requiring higher energy density.

Among ternary cathode suppliers, China's Ronbay led with 90,900 tons, followed by Reshine at 73,800 tons. Libode posted the highest growth among the top 10, rising 39.1 percent to 52,400 tons, while L&F was close behind with a 36.5 percent gain to 51,900 tons.

L&F's market share rose to 7.8 percent, lifting it to fourth place overall. Ecopro, by contrast, saw shipments fall 30.0 percent to 34,300 tons from 49,000 tons, with its share slipping to 5.2 percent.

SNE Research said performance varied by supplier depending on customer mix and supply region. L&F signed a 160 billion won ($120 million) supply agreement with SK On last month and began mass-producing LFP cathode materials targeting North American energy storage system demand from the end of the third quarter. Ecopro's shipments declined due to weak electrification model sales at its key customers, but the company is strengthening its European customer base through its Hungary factory, which began mass production in June.

Among LFP suppliers, China's Rofar rose 49.5 percent to 172,700 tons, overtaking Dynanonic to claim third place. Market leader Hunan Yuneng grew 33.3 percent to 295,900 tons, while second-place Wanlun rose 26.9 percent to 179,000 tons, narrowing the gap with Rofar to roughly 6,000 tons. Gotion expanded 56.7 percent to 105,100 tons, and Shenghua Tech surged 65.0 percent to 39,000 tons, making them the fastest-growing suppliers in the upper tier.

By corporate nationality, Chinese suppliers' combined share rose 3.3 percentage points to 87.3 percent. Korean suppliers fell from 12.0 percent to 9.0 percent, and Japanese suppliers edged down from 4.0 percent to 3.6 percent.

South Korean cathode makers are moving quickly to add LFP to their ternary-focused portfolios, and non-Chinese LFP supply chain partnerships are taking shape. Last month, SK On signed an approximately 1.1 trillion won supply agreement with Posco Future M for LFP cathode materials. The contract covers ESS volumes for SK On's Georgia factory in the United States, with deliveries scheduled from 2027 to 2029, meaning the shift will take time to show up in EV-specific shipment figures.

SNE Research said the key competitive question going forward is how quickly suppliers can build production bases and product lineups that comply with regional supply chain requirements. The firm noted that North American supply chain rules, EU discussions on domestic content requirements pursued alongside the battery booster package in June, and the mandatory battery passport taking effect in February 2027 are all tightening simultaneously.


eyre@heraldcorp.com