CATL is reportedly investing $5 billion in building a factory in Mexico.
07-20 2022
CATL may invest $5 billion to build a factory in Mexico, according to anonymous sources. The candidate locations for the battery plant include Huarez City in Chihuahua state and Sertilo in Coahuila state, both of which are located near the Mexico-US border adjacent to Texas. CATL has not responded to these reports.
In March of this year, Bloomberg reported that CATL was considering building an 80 GWh battery factory in Mexico, the United States, or Canada to supply multiple companies. Since July 2020, CATL has been supplying Tesla, and last year Tesla became CATL' largest customer, purchasing RMB 13 billion worth of lithium batteries, accounting for 10% of CATL' total revenue.
Tesla is currently pursuing the 4680 cylindrical battery as its main battery technology for the future. In August last year, 36Kr reported that Tesla was looking for cooperative partners for the 4680 battery and was in talks with CATL and LG Chem.
In May of this year, CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun responded to questions about the company's plans to build a factory in North America during an earnings call, saying that the company had explored various possible supply and collaboration schemes with American customers, as well as the possibility of local production, but specific circumstances would depend on factors such as worker training, efficiency, and union impact on quality and cost.
In December last year, Lisa Drake, COO of Ford, announced that five companies, including CATL, BYD, and Panasonic, had been selected as battery suppliers for Ford. CATL subsequently responded that this was subject to customer demand.
Currently, CATL has ten major battery production bases, nine of which are in China, with the other in Germany. As of the end of last year, CATL' lithium battery production capacity was 170 GWh, with 140 GWh of capacity under construction.
The factory in Thuringia, Germany, is CATL' first overseas battery factory, with a planned total investment of EUR 1.8 billion (approximately RMB 12.3 billion) and planned capacity of 14 GWh. In April of this year, CATL announced that the German factory had obtained an 8 GWh cell production capacity license, with the first cells expected to roll off the line before the end of 2022.
According to data from Bloomberg, CATL has a 33.9% market share, making it the world's largest lithium battery manufacturer, followed by LG Energy Solution, BYD, Panasonic, and SK Innovation, with market shares of 14.4%, 12.1%, 10.5%, and 6.8%, respectively, far behind CATL.
