In May, scheduled lithium-battery production in China reached 249 gigawatt-hours (GWh), marking a third consecutive monthly record and a 6% increase from April. Robust demand for energy storage solutions underpinned the growth and drove the shares of industry leader CATL up 5.5%, closing at 460 yuan on Wednesday to set a new high.
The broader battery sector also posted gains, with Gotion High-tech rising 4.95%, Eve Energy up 4.06%, and Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology climbing 9.59% by the market close.
A recent report by Dadong Times indicates that energy storage cells accounted for 42.3% of China’s planned battery output in May, compared with 14.7% for ternary (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt) cells. The data reflect a structural shift toward large-capacity cells: production of units exceeding 500 ampere-hours continues to expand, driven by long-duration storage applications, while traditional 314-ampere-hour lines are seeing lower capacity utilization.
On the global stage, CATL maintained its leading position in electric-vehicle batteries. According to SNE Research, the company’s EV battery installations rose 15.2% year-on-year in the first quarter, securing a 40.7% share of the global market, up from 38.5% a year earlier. The second-ranked supplier held 13.7%, down from 16.2%, while major South Korean competitors also lost ground amid cooling U.S. demand.
To support its overseas expansion, CATL completed one of the year’s largest share placements in Hong Kong, raising roughly HKD 39.2 billion to fund global capacity growth.
Source: CNEVPost
