Korean battery majors command 34% of global EV power, LG falls to 2nd

South Korea’s electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. ranked second in the global EV battery market from January to November this year, after yielding the top place to China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) for three months in a row.

According to market research firm SNE Research on Thursday, LG Energy Solution’s battery usage volume in the global market amounted to 26.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) for the previous 11 months, coming in second with a 22.6 percent market share.

China’s CATL ranked top by supplying 28.1GWh and commanding 24.2 percent in the market.

The Korean EV battery producer that was separated from LG Chem earlier this month had maintained the world’s No.1 position from March, when it took the top spot for the first time, to August, but was pushed out by the Chinese rival piggybacking on the government’s full support.

CATL has provided its batteries for Tesla Model 3 since the latter half of this year, and is expanding its supplies as the government extended its subsidy program for two years.

An industry expert said that CATL, which now accounts for about half of the global EV battery market, is expected to take a bigger bite on the “unlevel playing field” created by the Chinese government.

Japan’s Panasonic ranked third with 22.3GWh and 19.2 percent market share from January to November, followed by Samsung SDI with 6.8GWh and 5.8 percent and SK Innovation with 6.5GWh and 5.5 percent.

SK Innovation has seen its EV battery usage in the global market grow by 3.4 times and market share gain 2.9 times compared to last year, thanks to its bold investments and overseas factory expansion.

SK Innovation led Samsung SDI for two straight months in October and November by monthly battery use volume.

LG Energy Solution’s EV battery usage for the past 11 months surged 2.4 times from the same period last year and Samsung SDI 1.7 times.

The top three battery makers in Korea took up a combined 33.9 percent, up from 16.6 percent in 2019.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]