Japanese major manufacturers increased by 10% for aluminum electrolytic capacitors

 

The supply-demand mismatch of aluminum electrolytic capacitors was still as high as 1:5

Since the beginning of 2022, aluminum electrolytic capacitors have continued the price increase trend of last year. Previously, Nichicon, a large Japanese aluminum electrolytic capacitor manufacturer, said that it had increased the price of all products by 10% in mid April.

According to the author’s follow-up statistics, in 2021, the global aluminum electrolytic capacitor manufacturers have carried out at least four rounds of price increases, and the price increases each time are about 10%. The reasons for the price increases are nothing but rising costs and strong demand.

Although only Nikon announced the price increase this time and no other manufacturers have followed up, from past experience, the first shot has been fired, and it is only a matter of time for other companies to follow up.

Raw materials soared again, forcing the price of aluminum electrolytic capacitors to rise

Not long ago, Taiwan media broke the news that nijikang, a large Japanese aluminum electrolytic capacitor manufacturer, had raised the price of all products by 10% in mid April to reflect the crazy soaring of various costs.

Camry said that it has been talking with customers continuously; Lilong power has already talked with customers about the same, but will first observe whether the Japanese factory has successfully raised the price, and then decide according to the market conditions. It will not follow up immediately; Since Jinshan power just rose in the fourth quarter of last year, it is impossible to rise every quarter; Yubang has no price increase action and plan.

 

According to the author’s understanding, since the end of 2020, the price of aluminum electrolytic capacitors has continued to rise. Last year, major manufacturers carried out at least four rounds of price increases. Unexpectedly, this trend will continue until 2022, and if the raw material side cannot be alleviated, the sentiment of price increase may continue to spread.

It is worth mentioning that jiwei.com once reported that since December 1 last year, Nippon chemi con, a leading manufacturer of aluminum electrolytic capacitors in Japan, has taken the lead in successfully raising the contract price of aluminum capacitors of a major first-line power supply manufacturer by 10%.

According to the data, the market competition pattern in the field of aluminum electrolytic capacitors is highly concentrated. Japanese manufacturers have occupied a major position for a long time, with Cr5 exceeding 60%. The major enterprises include Nikon, Cameo and Rubycon mentioned above. In addition, Jianghai shares, Aihua group in Chinese Mainland and Camry, Lilong electronics and Jinshan power in Taiwan also have a certain market share.

As we all know, in highly concentrated segments, leading enterprises often have a strong voice and the bargaining power to transfer costs to the downstream. Therefore, when nijkon feels the pressure of rising costs from the raw material side again, they will naturally choose to transfer the costs to downstream enterprises. Once a manufacturer opens the Pandora’s box of rising prices, the momentum will not stop unless the industry changes and the demand weakens.

However, from the current situation, although the demand in consumer electronics, home appliances and other fields downstream of aluminum electrolytic capacitors is average, the demand in emerging fields such as photovoltaic, energy storage and new energy vehicles continues to be strong. Therefore, when the downstream boom is high and the upstream raw material prices rise, the aluminum electrolytic capacitor manufacturers will naturally raise prices to transfer costs.

Specifically, as for the reasons for this price increase, Nikon said that, on the one hand, the global consumer market demand is gradually improving, aluminum electrolytic capacitors continue to fall short of demand, and the company is increasing equipment and expanding production capacity; On the other hand, the prices of upstream materials such as aluminum foil and chemical foil have repeatedly hit record highs, and the logistics costs have soared, so the company has been unable to bear the cost pressure.

The author learned that in terms of raw materials, due to the impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, LME aluminum continued to soar, and reached a record high on March 7. Although it has fallen back since then, it is still at a high level, and is still much higher than the highest point of last year. As of May 27, LME aluminum quoted us $2884 / ton.

In addition, since aluminum capacitors need to undergo the process of electric electroplating, major manufacturers send aluminum capacitors to countries with relatively low electricity costs such as Chinese Mainland for electroplating, and then transport them back to the original factory to complete the next process. In addition, the volume of aluminum capacitors is relatively large, so the transportation cost is high. As we all know, since the outbreak, shipping costs have continued to soar, and there is a shortage of containers. Therefore, the transportation costs of manufacturers are under great pressure.

The prosperity continues to rise, and the supply-demand mismatch is as high as 1:5

As the prosperity of downstream demand for aluminum electrolytic capacitors has not decreased, this also gives aluminum electrolytic capacitor manufacturers the confidence to raise prices. According to Aihua group, the downstream industries of aluminum electrolytic capacitors mainly include industrial power supply and lighting, new energy and automotive power supply, electronics and other industries. At present, the lighting market is basically stable; The demand for industrial control, new energy, photovoltaic and automobile has increased sharply.

Coincidentally, Jianghai also mentioned in its annual report that from the perspective of downstream applications, the demand growth in new energy, industrial control and other fields is the strongest. Seven of the top 10 global PV inverter manufacturers have become corporate users, and the consumption of this segment market has reached 15% of the operating revenue. Moreover, emerging markets and users have sprung up. The top 10 users ranked by sales revenue account for 35.2% of the total revenue.

In addition, the relevant person from Jianghai Securities Department told the author that the demand for photovoltaic and new energy vehicles has been very strong, especially the photovoltaic market, which has been one of the important sources of our industrial expansion and performance growth. In our view, the demand of the photovoltaic market is not only this year (strong), but in the next few years, under the background of “double carbon”, the demand will be diversified, and this high-profile atmosphere will continue.

“Under the existing policies and environment, we believe that the demand for PV will be relatively good,” the person from the Securities Department of Jianghai shares added.

During the survey, Aihua group said: “the company’s capacity expansion in 2021 is to prepare for the market demand in the past two years, mainly focusing on the photovoltaic, new energy and automotive fields.”

At present, the strong demand has brought huge profits to the above two companies. Among them, Jianghai achieved a revenue of 981million yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 31.20%; The net profit attributable to the shareholders of the listed company was RMB 118million, with a year-on-year increase of 42.23%.

Perhaps due to the late impact of the rise in raw material prices, which was transmitted to the downstream, the performance of Aihua group in the first quarter was slightly worse. The company achieved a revenue of 869million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.95%, and a net profit of 115million yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 1.85%.

By comparison, Jianghai shares has got rid of the influence of raw materials and successfully transmitted the price to the downstream, while Aihua group is still disturbed.

At the same time, the aforementioned insiders of Jianghai shares disclosed to the author that at present, the company has abundant orders. Although the supply and demand has improved compared with the end of last year, the supply-demand ratio is still as high as 1:5, and under normal circumstances, the delivery cycle is two to three weeks.


Post time: Jun-01-2022