In 2012, global lithium iron phosphate industry continued enjoying a strong development momentum. Regionally speaking, however, the growth of lithium iron phosphate industry claimed severe differentiation. In regions beyond China, since the EV industry, the biggest lithium iron phosphate battery consumption market, developed not as well as expected, industrial players are confronted with the risk of withdrawing from the market or even bankrupting as a result of increasingly growing loss. At the same time, in contrast, counterparts from Chinese mainland and Taiwan witnessed smooth development, thanks to mature lithium battery industry as well as developed EV industry. Thus, the lithium iron phosphate industry is increasingly shifting to mainland China and Taiwan.

In recent years, there have been a great many of enterprises embarking on the lithium iron phosphate business in mainland China. Coupled with constant capacity expansion, China’s lithium iron phosphate capacity continued rising. Owing to the fact that new comers lag behind in terms of production technology, product quality and production stability, both their real output and sales volume are well below the designed capacity. Equipped with strong technical force reserves and a great many of patents, Taiwanese enterprises featuring larger production scale are more competitive in the market.


In 2012, China lithium iron phosphate battery market pattern made little change, claiming that lithium iron phosphate battery products makers failed to see explosive growth as previous years which signaled rational development tendency. In addition, the cardinal number of EV in China is relatively small, so the absolute amount is not large despite output spurt. Therefore, the EV industry has yet to become a strong pillar to spur on the demand for lithium iron phosphate battery products. In contrast, energy saving and communication fields are would-be lithium iron phosphate battery consumption market with huge potential. And it is only a matter of time before this becomes a reality. In general, the lithium iron phosphate battery industry is at the pre-boom stage and has yet to be full-fledged.

The report touches on status quo of global and China lithium iron phosphate material and battery industry, highlights three trans-national enterprises including A123 Systems, Valence and Phostech, four Taiwanese ones such as Formosa, ALeees, Tatung Fine Chemicals and Hirose Tech as well as 22 mainland Chinese industrial players like Pulead Technology Industry Co., Ltd, Shenzhen Bei Terui New Energy Material Co., Ltd, Tianjin STL Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and BYD.

A123 Systems, the industrial leader worldwide, is one among two enterprises in the world possessing key lithium iron phosphate patents. However, due to bleak market environment and poor management, the company had long been at a loss, yielding a fast-growing deficit until Jan.2013 when it was took over by Wanxiang Group.

Formosa is a well-known Taiwanese lithium iron phosphate producer that offers a large part of its products for customers from Chinese mainland. In 2011, it was the runner-up among lithium iron phosphate suppliers targeting mainland China when it comes to market share. In 2012, the company’s lithium iron phosphate capacity hit 4,800 t/a after capacity expansion, making it possible to become the largest lithium iron phosphate producer in Taiwan. And Formosa is projected to increase its capacity, of corporate planning, to 12,000 t/a by 2014 in an aim to become a would-be largest lithium iron phosphate producer the world over.

BYD boasts the largest lithium iron phosphate battery maker in China. But the aggressive development policy in past two years shouldered much of the blame for its exacerbating profitability. After the rock bottom in 2012, the profitability of the company turned around in 2013Q1, with the net income surging by 188.9% year-on-year to RMB156 million. In 2013, the company’s sales volume of lithium battery-powered EV is estimated to record 8,000, a targeted year-on-year rise of 233.3%.