British media: electric vehicle supply chain, "China holds all cards"

The British "Financial Times" September 20 article, original title: Europe lags behind China in the competition of electric vehicle supply chain

Since the advent of automobiles in Europe 136 years ago, the industry has developed into one of the foundations of economic growth and prosperity in mainland Europe. However, as China obtains greater control over the supply chain of electric vehicles, the European automobile industry that is trying to catch up is one of its biggest challenges in history.

Nelunheim, the sustainable development director of the most advanced battery manufacturing startup in Europe, said that this not only means the production of a plant to produce batteries, but also involves the mining, refining and chemical engineering required to supply materials for factories. The entire ecosystem. "Whoever has processing capabilities will control the source of the material and conduct transactions," she said.

The European Union is ambitious for electric vehicles, and will gradually stop the sales of new diesel and new gasoline power vehicles by 2035. The EU leaders stated that this month plans to carry out key raw materials legislation to provide funds for strategic projects and establish inventory. However, China's leading advantage in the field of electric vehicle battery manufacturing is obvious. The British benchmark mining intelligence company predicts that China is expected to produce 76%of lithium batteries worldwide this year, while the European Union is only 7%.

"Need to make up for many foundations," said Weiding, the chief executive of Vulcanenergy, a lithium -mined company in Germany, said. "At present, China has led several steps." The company's situation highlighted the relevant challenges. However, due to the surge in energy costs and rising loans, executives in the European battery and raw material industry are worried that Europe will be more dependent on Asian companies including the Ningde era of China.

Gatreg, a company head of Livistanergy, who is seeking to build a lithium refinery plant in Europe, said that preparation for supply chain to supply chain is the primary problem when the demand for electric vehicles is surging. Europe is trying to "compete with people who have led 20 years in cash flow," he said.

Even if Europe attracted battery manufacturing investment, executives knew that: Asian battery manufacturers established a "satellite" factory that has obtained from Asia in Europe, which is completely different from a local European enterprise procurement material and supports a local supply chain. Last month, the Ningde Times announced a huge sum of $ 7 billion to build a super battery production base in Hungary. In Europe, there are almost no lithium and graphite business, and its battery manufacturers still need to introduce materials from abroad in the future because the development of mining projects will take longer than the battery factory.

The European automotive industry is setting up the second highest value in electric vehicles -the field of supply chain is also facing challenges. These motors need to use the high -performance permanent magnet of the rare earth, and the rare earth is extremely difficult to refine and processed. China dominates rare earth production and processing, accounting for about 80%of the world's market share. Among the European supply chains, only one Canadian company can separate rare earth materials for magnets. The company's CEO believes that Europe has just realized the key to China's leading position.

Bakberg, founder of market intelligence company PB company, said that China still reminds that it is dominant. Last month, China increased the annual rare earth mining output quota that used Beijing to control prices by 25%, making it a record high: "This highlights China's holding all cards again." )

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