(Yicai Global) July 13 -- Shares in Contemporary Amperex Technology and Eve Energy both hit all-time highs this week as leading Chinese electric car battery manufacturers experience difficulties meeting orders from new energy vehicle makers due to a big jump in demand and a shortage of key raw materials.

CATL [SHE:300750] has surged 9.3 percent in the past five trading days to CNY563.01 (USD87). Earlier today it reached a record high of CNY579.60. Guangdong-based Eve Energy’s share price [SHE:300014] has gained 25 percent since last Wednesday, finishing at CNY127.11 (USD19.65) today. Yesterday it hit a record high of CNY131.50.

More electric cars were sold in the first half than in the whole of 2019, amounting to 1.2 million units. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers expects to sales reach 2.4 million vehicles this year.

NEV battery makers are having trouble keeping up with the orders from auto factories, a company insider from Guangzhou Automobile Group’s NEV unit Aion told Yicai Global today. This has somewhat affected Aion’s day-to-day business, he added.

Battery output more than tripled in the five months ended May 31. From January to May, China's installed capacity of EV batteries reached 41.4 gigawatt hours, half of which was produced by CATL. The Ningde, southeastern Fujian province-based firm is working at full capacity, it said recently.

Yet the price of key raw materials for lithium-ion batteries has increased significantly since the fourth quarter of last year, according to the China Yiwei Institute of Economics. The price of lithium carbonate has almost doubled, and the price of lithium hydroxide has also risen by about 50 percent. In addition, the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate and some solvents and additives has also gone up.

Battery manufacturers that are unable to control costs may lose some customers as a result, and this will reconfigure the market distribution pattern of the entire electric car battery sector, said Wu Hui, general manager of the research department of China Yiwei Institute of Economics and director of China Battery Industry Research Institute.

The shortage of lithium resources is likely to continue in the second half and the price of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate could still rise further, China Securities said.

Editor: Kim Taylor