With the continued prosperity of the global new energy vehicle market and the rapid development of energy storage technology, battery aluminum foil, as a critical material for battery current collectors, is experiencing unprecedented demand growth. The aluminum processing and manufacturing industry, especially enterprises focusing on the production of aluminum sheets and foils, are seizing market opportunities by increasing research and development investment and production capacity to meet the escalating market demand.
As an important category within aluminum sheets and foils, battery aluminum foil is favored for its excellent conductivity, soft texture, cost advantages, and stable performance under high electrical potentials, making it the preferred material for the positive current collectors of power batteries. With the vigorous development in the field of new energy, the production and capacity of battery aluminum foil are showing explosive growth. According to statistics, in 2022, the added production of battery aluminum foil grew by as much as 70%, while in 2023, within the added capacity of aluminum sheets and foils, battery foil projects accounted for 60%. In the added capacity of new energy vehicle projects, the proportion of battery foil capacity reached 71%, demonstrating strong market demand for battery aluminum foil.
The production process of battery aluminum foil is complex, with process parameters significantly affecting yield, requiring accumulated know-how at every step. Currently, the industry commonly uses the casting-rolling and cold rolling process flow for battery aluminum foil production. This involves manufacturing aluminum ingots and billets into aluminum coils through casting-rolling, followed by cold rolling, intermediate annealing, and foil rolling to produce battery aluminum foil.
Currently, mainstream battery aluminum foil products in the market primarily use alloys such as 1060, 1070, 1100, and 1235 from the 1000 series. These alloys have high aluminum content, purity above 99.00%, relatively simple production processes, and moderate prices, making them one of the most commonly used materials in the aluminum processing industry. The mainstream thickness specifications are 10-20μm, with some battery manufacturers using 8μm, and the future direction is to continue thinning, possibly reaching 6μm. Taking Youfoil Metal as an example, the company has established 18 battery foil production lines, supporting 600GWh of lithium battery production. Currently, it has mass-produced high-end power battery foils ranging from 12-20 microns and successfully developed dual-layer 8μm battery foils, positioning its product quality and technological level at the forefront of the industry.
Driven by the continued prosperity of the power battery market, energy storage batteries and sodium-ion batteries will also become new drivers of demand growth for battery aluminum foils. It is estimated that by 2025, China's demand for aluminum foil for batteries will reach 681,000 tons.
