Frost Radar™: Lithium-Ion Battery Materials, 2025

Frost Radar™: Lithium-Ion Battery Materials

Frost Radar™ Competitive Environment

• The battery materials market consists of more than 100 companies offering one or more materials. From these, Frost & Sullivan selected 14 for additional benchmarking:
  • Conglomerates Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical, LG Chem, and SK On leverage expertise from other business operations, such as metals and mining, electronic components, and battery manufacturing, in their activities.
  • Large chemical companies BASF, Toray, Umicore, and Syensqo offer coatings, polymers, and other materials in addition to core anode, cathode, and electrolyte materials and binders.
  • Pure-play battery material companies Group14 Technologies, Sila Nano, BTR, POSCO Future M, Ronbay, and Neogen focus on specific battery materials.
• LG Chem is the Frost Radar™ Innovation and Growth leader because of its strong R&D initiatives and strategic partnerships to drive material advancements. It has a commendable focus on recycling and expansion plans targeting future growth.
• Toray is a Frost Radar™ standout with a broad product portfolio. It has largely focused on material development and recycling/reuse of used battery materials. Toray provides robust offerings in separator materials and high-performance composite materials and is eyeing expansion beyond EV applications to industrial drones, urban air mobility systems, and other transportation modes.
• Syensqo, which also excels on the Innovation and Growth indices, has grown significantly with its electrode and electrolyte material offerings.
• Growth Index leader BTR has a strong presence in China. That, in addition to rapid advancements on the product development front, is propelling its growth.
• SK On, POSCO, Ronbay, and Group14 have strong growth visions. They are expanding capacities, establishing strategic partnerships, and exploring new applications and regional opportunities to bolster their market position in the next 3 to 5 years. SK On has a competitive edge because of its expertise in the battery market. Ronbay enjoys a regional advantage as a leader in the Chinese battery materials market.
• Sila Nano, BASF, Sumitomo Chemical, and Mitsubishi Chemical have made significant progress on the innovation front by developing products that align with market needs, establishing strategic partnerships for expansion into new regions and applications, and making consistent advancements in recycling initiatives.
• Neogen is smaller and has a more limited geographic reach than its competitors on the Frost Radar™, but it is making commendable progress in the industry.

Best Practices & Growth Opportunities

Best Practices

• Companies with a broad battery materials portfolio hold a strong position in the market. Those offering polymers and composites for batteries and those having a strong foothold in mining and refining activities will have a competitive advantage over companies with a single product offering.
• Battery material manufacturers should focus on geographic diversification to leverage various governments’ policies, incentives, and rebates and establish a strong network of customers.
• Considering geopolitical tensions and the concentration of raw materials in specific locations, a strong sourcing strategy remains paramount and is largely facilitated through strategic partnerships. Collaborations with cell, battery, and other manufacturers to co-develop, test, and commercialize new materials will accelerate time to market.

Growth Opportunities

• Concerns about disposal of materials in the automotive and electronics industries are compelling safe and sustainable disposal/reuse of materials from used batteries. Circular materials, safer compositions, and recycling infrastructure will help companies make significant gains. Recycling also minimizes sourcing costs associated with new raw materials.
• Materials that improve energy density and battery performance, support fast charging, and are safe and durable are in demand. Battery material manufacturers should explore and develop next-generation materials that satisfy or exceed industry expectations for battery life and performance. Materials that support the development of solid-state batteries will provide strong growth opportunities.
• Companies should capitalize on the US Inflation Reduction Act and EU Green Deal to establish facilities and take advantage of rebates, subsidies, and incentives. Government PFAS bans will create the need for alternatives. Binder and coating manufacturers should proactively develop alternatives to gain a first-mover advantage.