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CATL Reveals 2020 Installation Figures, Tightly Aligned with Adamas Tracker Data

Sales Up 14%, Production Up 9%, Inventory Up 35% Year-over-Year

In 2020, Chinese cell supplier CATL reported 46.8 GWh of lithium-ion cell sales globally, an increase of 14.4% year-over-year. The company produced a total of 51.7 GWh over the same period, up 9.4% year-over-year, and held 14.2 GWh in inventory by 2020 year-end, up 34.6% year-over-year.

Power battery systems (i.e. electric vehicle batteries) were the company’s main source of income with production amounting to 44.45 GWh in 2020, comprising almost 95% of the company’s annual output. According to CATL, “in the passenger car field, the company continues to deepen strategic cooperation with key customers, continues to strengthen its advantages in relevant market segments, and provides strategic customers with competitive and differentiated products”.


Official Capacity Deployment Figures Cited by CATL Tightly Aligned with Adamas Data

According to official certification data from the China Automotive Research Institute cited by CATL, the company deployed 31.9 GWh of cells onto roads in China in 2020 with a market share of 50%. Of this amount, an estimated 7.2 GWh of cells were deployed onto roads in new commercial and special purpose EVs in China and the remaining 24.7 GWh were deployed in new passenger EVs, according to a model-by-model build up using Adamas Intelligence data.

In total, CATL reports production capacity of 69.1 GWh for 2020 (74.8% utilized) with an additional 77.5 GWh under construction. Moreover, the company reports a yield of just 51.7%, emphasizing the need to maintain a high capacity-to-sales ratio going forward.

CATL Deployments Accelerating in Europe, Fourth Most Deployed Cells in 2020

As subscribers to Adamas Intelligence’s EV Battery Capacity and Battery Metals Tracker have observed, CATL continues to expand into overseas markets. In January 2020, the company was virtually non-existent in Europe but by year-end, CATL cells were the fourth most deployed in the region for the calendar year overall, according to Adamas Intelligence data.

High Nickel Cathodes Going Mainstream in Europe

In 2020, Adamas data shows that 5.1 GWh of CATL cells were deployed onto European roads in new passenger EVs, of which NCM 8-series cells comprised a small but growing fraction. With a surge of NCM 8-series cells currently percolating though certain European assembly lines, we expect the chemistry to capture appreciable market share in the region by 2021 year-end.

According to CATL, “the 811 system products have been delivered in large quantities overseas, and have successively been recognized by mainstream overseas automobile companies, further consolidating long-term partnerships”.


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