Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to CBAK Energy Technology's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Earnings Conference Call. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, we are recording today's call. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now I'll turn the call over to Mr. Thierry Li, Investor Relations Director of CBAK Energy. Mr. Lee, please proceed.
Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. Welcome to CBAK Energy's fourth quarter and full- year 2021 earnings conference call. Joining us today are Mr. Yunfei Li, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mrs. Xiangyu Pei, our Interim Chief Financial Officer. We released results earlier today. The press release is available on the company's IR website at ir.cbak.com.cn, as well as from Newswire services. A replay of this call will also be available in a few hours on our IR website. On the call with me today are Mr. Yunfei Li, our Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Xiangyu Pei, our interim Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Xiujun Tian, our General Engineer, Mr. Wenwu Wang, our Vice President, and Mrs. Yang, our Interpreter. Before we continue, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's actual results may be materially different from the expectations expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company's public filings with the SEC. The company doesn't assume any obligations to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable laws. Also, please note that unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned during the conference call are in U.S. dollars. With that, let me now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. Yunfei Li. Mr. Li will speak in Chinese, and I will translate comments in English. Go ahead, Mr. Li. Thank you, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our conference call. 2021 was a significant year for CBAK Energy as we make major achievements in multiple fronts. We continue to strengthen our competitive advantages through innovative technology and product developments.
As scheduled, we scale up our production capacity to capitalize on increasing battery demand for light electric vehicles and electric vehicles. Specifically, we began production of lithium-ion batteries at our new facility in Nanjing and expanded capacity at the Dalian facility. We believe these developments will bring long-term benefits that will extend far into the future. Moreover, we brought in materials for lithium-ion batteries with an acquisition of 81.56% equity interest in Zhejiang Meidu Hitrans Lithium Battery Technology Corporation to build up and enhance our battery product ecosystem. The transaction will not only have crucial strategic benefits, which secure a stable supply of raw materials even amid rising material costs, but we also expect it will help us generate greater revenues and even better financial performance in 2022.
2021, we continue to see higher revenues from high-power lithium batteries, which grew 46% to $33.3 million. The merger of Hitrans also added revenues of $17.8 million from December to bring our total net revenues in 2021 to $52.7 million. 40% from the previous year. This increase was from the effective execution of our growth strategy, which boosted our expansion in the battery storage market .
接下来我们来谈一谈，随着我们成为头部LEV公司主要电池供应商而努力的同时，公司在技术和产品方面的最新进展。
Next, let me dive into our recent developments in technology and products as we strive to become a major power battery supplier for top LEV producers.
魏总，您继续。好，2021年我们继续看到高功率的……在调试完成后，我们迅速开始了26700电池和32140电池的商业化生产，前者可用于两轮电动汽车，后者服务于LEV和A00级乘用车的市场。A00级车型是中国最畅销的电动汽车五菱宏光所属的乘用车类型。
Following the completion of shakedown test, we swiftly launched commercial production of model 26700 battery and model 32140 battery. The former one is applicable to two-wheel electric bicycles while the latter serves LEV and A00 grade passenger EV market. The A00 grade passenger electric vehicle is the category the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, the best-selling EV in China, is under.
魏总，您继续。此外，我们将为设计和生产电动汽车电子和电池控制系统的中日合资企业开发定制电池包。由于疫情延迟了物料配送，我们现在预计于今年四月向这家公司发送电池包样品。该电池包最初将用于测试丰田汽车的子公司大发汽车生产的低速电动汽车。这又一次证明了业界对我们坚实的技术能力的信任，并支持我们成为电动汽车开发更多创新产品。
Additionally, we will develop a customized battery pack for AZAPA R&D China, which is a Sino-Japan joint venture that designs electronic control systems for electric vehicles. As the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed raw materials deliveries, we are now expecting to send battery set samples to AZAPA this April. The battery pack will initially be used for testing low-speed EVs produced by Daihatsu Motor Corporation, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. This is additional evidence of the industry's trust in our solid technology capabilities and supports us in developing more innovative products for EVs.
我们也继续努力为轻型电动车和乘用级电动车市场开发大型圆柱形电池。当有更具体的进展时，我们会在今年晚些的时候跟大家分享。
We also continue our efforts in developing large cylindrical batteries for the LEV and passenger- grade EV markets. We will share this in more detail later this year when you see more concrete progress.
您继续。接下来讨论一下扩产。我们对目前的进展是非常满意的，完全按照我们的计划，能够很好适应不断增长的市场需求，尤其是在轻型电动车或电动车市场。
Moving on to capacity expansion, we are very satisfied with the progress, which is totally in line with our plans in responding to growing market demand, especially for the LEV and EV markets.
请继续。去年年底，我们位于南京的锂电池工厂已经投产，初期32140型电池的年产能达到了0.7吉瓦时。我们会继续逐步完成产能爬坡，直至满产，有更多的电池交付客户。我们预计可以按进度在今年年底完成整个一期建设，将总产能提升到2吉瓦时。主要还是生产32140电池。与此同时，我们在同步推进二期的施工，在二期工厂我们会主要生产32140型电池以及目前正在开发的大型圆柱形电池。
In Nanjing, we began operations at the lithium battery manufacturing plant there late last year, with an initial annual capacity of 0.7 GW-hours for model 32140 battery. As we gradually ramp up the output to the plant's full production capacity, the batteries are being delivered to customers. We remain on track and on schedule to complete the first phase by the end of this year, when its total capacity will be lifted to 2 GW-hours each year, mainly for the same battery model. Meanwhile, we are also pushing the construction of the second phase, for which we will mainly produce the model 32140 battery as well as large cylindrical batteries that we are currently in the midst of developing.
另外在大连，我们也有一条新的产线投产，年产能达到0.4吉瓦。在工厂本身生产的26650型电池基础上，生产使用于轻型电动车和储能的26700型电池。大连工厂已接近满产，所以我们有需要继续扩产，以满足市场对公司产品的更大需求。
In Dalian, we started a new production line with an annual capacity of 4 GWh for our model 26700 battery for the LEV and energy storage sector, in addition to the plant's main production of model 26650 battery. The Dalian facility has almost reached its full capacity. Therefore, we see the need to further expand its capacity to meet higher demands for our products.
截至今年三月，我们目前尚未交付的电池订单总额达到2.3亿元，约合3,600万美元，大约90%的终端用户都来自海外。
As of March, we have outstanding battery orders worth CNY 230 million, or about $36 million, of which approximately 90% end users are overseas.
接下来我介绍一下电池材料业务。去年十一月底，我们完成了国内头部电池材料供应商海创的收购。考虑到交易完成时间，我们只把海创去年十二月的财务数据与中比能源进行了并表。与海创并表对2022年以及将来的财务表现一定会有大幅度的提升。由于海创拥有强大的客户网络，我们对其未来充满信心。大部分海创的客户都是国内企业，海创目前也处于几乎满产的状态，业务重心主要是三元前驱体与锂电池正极材料生产和销售。虽然海创是一家中小企业，但其优异的表现以及领先的技术助其成为该细分行业的专精特新企业，可以享受政府的税收和贷款优惠政策。
With that, I will now turn to our battery material business. In late November, we finally completed the acquisition of China's leading lithium-ion battery materials supplier, Hitrans. Given the closing date of the deal, we only took account of the December results of Hitrans into our books. The merging of Hitrans is expected to significantly benefit our financial performance in 2022 and beyond. We are very optimistic about its future given its well-established customer network. Most of Hitrans's clients are domestic companies and it is currently operating at full capacity by focusing on production and sales of NCM precursors and cathode materials for lithium batteries. Hitrans's great performance and advanced technologies also allow it to be among the small and medium-sized enterprises that dominate major markets in niche sectors, and secure increased financial and tax support and enhanced credit policies from the government.
二零二二年，尽管短期内受到芯片短缺和锂电池材料成本上涨的影响，我们看到新能源汽车的电动化浪潮仍在继续，并变得更加强劲。在国内外利好政策、原材料紧缺、材料零部件成本上升等众多因素的共同作用下，我们预计新能源汽车市场将看到爆发式增长。根据行业协会和金融机构的预测，二零二二年电动汽车动力电池需求量有望达到450吉瓦，供不应求而导致电池价格上涨。然而长远看来，电池价格必将回归理性。以全极耳大圆柱电池为主导的持续技术开发、技术创新也将降低锂电池的成本。
As 2022 evolves, we see electrification wave of new energy vehicles continuing and becoming even stronger despite short-term impacts resulting from chip shortage and rising material costs for lithium battery. With multiple factors such as favorable policies at home and abroad, a supply chain shortage and an increasing material and component cost, we expect the new energy vehicle market will see explosive sales growth. Based on forecasts from industry and associations and financial institutions, demand for EV power batteries is likely to reach 450 GW-hours in 2022, which exceeds current battery supply and is raising battery prices. However, we expect battery prices will be more rational in the long run. Continuous technology innovations led by the development of full-tab, large cylindrical batteries will also drive down lithium battery costs.
轻型电动车方面，随着新国标的落地，国内电动车的换购加快了轻型电动车行业洗牌，行业集中度上升，整个产业正常地锂电化、智能化、程序化等方向演进。轻型电动车锂电池在车辆共享、换电、快充等领域有着不俗的表现。同时受疫情影响，轻型电动车海外市场进一步扩大，以高速电摩、电动三轮军营来大幅增长。
With the implementation of New National Standards for LEVs, sales of this vehicle type will accelerate and drive the industry's consolidation and bring sector leaders into the spotlight. The entire industry is now evolving in the direction of lithium electrification alongside intelligent and long-range technologies. Lithium batteries for LEVs also perform exceptionally well in vehicle sharing, battery swapping, and supercharging. At the same time, under the impact from the pandemic, the overseas market for LEVs has also grown, especially for e-bikes, high-speed electric motorcycles, and electric three-wheelers. To meet the aforementioned demands from EVs and LEVs, we will continue our focus on ramping up capacity and broadening the materials business in fiscal year 2022. First, we will accelerate construction and commissioning for the second phase of the Nanjing plant this year. At the same time, another production line of its first phase is also being built.
As noted earlier, we hope that the entire first phase will be put into production in 2022. The investment and release of Nanjing's production capacity will further increase the company's revenues from the battery business and will be of significant support for our steady entry into the EV market. Meanwhile, we will use the strategic value of Hitrans to expand our raw material business and integrate our upstream and downstream. We hope to not only maintain the stability of raw material supply chain, but also grow the raw material business, which is now popular due to the rising material prices into one of our main business lines. We believe this segment of revenues will play a significant role in driving up our sales in 2022.
As we look ahead, we believe these growth drivers and strategies position us very competitively in the industry and empowers us as a leader in lithium-ion battery production and electric energy solutions. Now let me turn the call over to our Interim CFO, Xiangyu Pei, who will provide details on our financial performance.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Yunfei Li and Thierry Li. And thank you everyone for joining our call today. I will now go over our key financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021. For the full details of our financial results, please refer to our earnings press release. In 2021, we continued to expand revenue and gross margin levels that are driven by stronger sales of batteries for uninterruptible power supplies and LEVs, as well as the addition of the material business brought by the acquisition of Hitrans. We also turned to profitability in 2021 from a loss in the previous year. Notably, we continued to invest in new head count, new business, as well as research and development to drive further growth.
We believe the investments, combined with our strong financial position and powerful battery product ecosystem, will propel us towards long-term profitable growth. Moving on to our results. In the fourth quarter of 2021, our net revenues surged 80% to $27.8 million from the same period of 2020, primarily due to strong sales of high-power lithium batteries and additional revenues from lithium battery materials brought by the acquisition of Hitrans from November 26, 2021 to December 31st, 2021.
For the full year 2021, net revenues were up 40% to $52.7 million, of which $34 million was from high-power lithium batteries, which grew 49% year-over-year, and $17.8 million was from Hitrans since its acquisition. Cost of revenues was $26.8 million in the fourth quarter and $47.6 million for the full year 2021, up 86% and 36% respectively from the previous year. Gross margin was 3.7% in the fourth quarter, compared with 6.8% in the same period of 2020 as raw material costs rose. Still, in 2021, our gross margin rose 250 basis points year-over-year to 9.7%.
The improvement in gross margin was primarily attributed to the increase in the quality passing rate of our products, which was a result of our quality control and upgrades on production lines. In the fourth quarter, we decreased our operating expenses by 3% from the previous year to $6.8 million as we recovered some doubtful accounts, and there is no impairment charge on property, plant and equipment, which offset the impact from increased expenses related to research and development, sales and marketing and general administration. For the full year 2021, our operating expenses rose 50% to $16.8 million, primarily due to growing headcount and the acquisition of Hitrans.
Within that, our research and development expenses were $5.3 million, and sales and marketing expenses were $2.3 million, each more than triple from the previous year. Our R&D expenses accounted for about 10% of revenues in 2021, up from 4% in 2020 as we expanded our efforts to upgrade technology and products. Additionally, general and administration expenses increased 168% to $10 million. Still, our operating expense ratio was 32% in 2021, compared with 30% in 2020. Our change in fair value of warrants was $4.6 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $2.1 million in the prior year.
Thus, net income attributable to shareholders of CBAK Energy was $9.2 million during the period, compared to net loss attributable to shareholders of CBAK Energy of $4.3 million in the same period of 2020. For the full year, our change in fair value of warrants was $61.8 million, compared with $2.1 million in the prior year. Net income attributable to shareholders of CBAK Energy was $61.5 million compared to net loss attributable to shareholders of CBAK Energy of $7.8 million in 2020. As of December 31, 2021, our cash and cash equivalents reached $7.4 million compared to $2 million as of September 30, 2021.
That concludes our prepared remarks. Let's now open the call for questions. Operator, please go ahead. Thanks.
Thank you. We will now begin the question- and- answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to withdraw your request, please press the pound or hash key. Please stand by while we compile the question and answer roster. Once again, it's star one for questions. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from the line of Laura Liu from Stone Street Group. Please ask your question.
你好，谢谢。我是Stone Street的Laura。我想问一下，就是最近俄乌的局势使得这个钴和镍的价格都急剧地上升，那这对于海创生产电池材料以及中比生产这个锂离子电池有多大的影响？还有就是两家公司分别有什么应对这个金属价格上涨的措施吗？
Due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the price of cobalt and nickel has increased sharply. How will this impact the raw material production in Hitrans and the production of lithium-ion batteries in CBAK Energy? What measures do the two companies have in place to cope with the rise in metal price?
这个问题请田总回答，然后王总跟裴总有什么要补充的请补充。
在电池业务方面，中比能源这块是主要的订单及出货多是磷酸铁锂电池。镍钴价格的上涨对我们中比能源这块的电池业务这块影响并不是太大。在材料业务方面的话，金属价格上涨对我们这个预期是有一些影响的，但是并不是很大。公司采取了包括低价大量从这个金属，包括镍钴这块的一个补仓，还有就是因为我们这个金属这块的原材料保证期比较长这个特点，我们这个库的话在之前是已经补得比较充足的情况下，锁定生产的利润，这样的话，销售价格和材料这个价格联动方面的话，这样的话可以把这个影响降到最低，甚至于可以就是说逆势可以赚取更高的利润。另外现在这个电池在整个市场上属于稀缺的资源，我们也有与客户去沟通，客户基本上都能消化因为外界环境导致的价格上涨，这个可以说对于材料这个储备及销售的影响，他们也都是基本上可以接受的，现在是这么一个情况。
Ok. With regard to battery business, the materials involved in most orders and shipments of CBAK Energy are lithium iron phosphate, and price rise of cobalt and nickel has little influence on our products. In terms of material business, the estimation of a rise in metal price does have some impact, but the company can navigate by taking various measures. For example, given that the shelf life of nickel, cobalt and manganese are quite long compared with other metal, we have replenished the stock when the price is low and we have replenished to quite a high level, so we can lock the production profits and also build a linkage between the sales price and material price.
With all these measures, we can mitigate the impact on our material business and even make some profit from it. On another hand, now batteries are scarce resources in the market, and the customers can basically digest the price increase caused by the external factors after we communicate with them, they can understand. They also told us that the impact on the material preparation and sales is acceptable to them.
Thank you. Laura, do you have any follow-up questions?
好的，谢谢。我还有第二个问题，就是那公司对于今年电动车或者是电动车电池市场有什么预测吗？
Ok, I have a second question. How do you see the electric vehicle or electric vehicle battery markets in 2022?
这问题请王总来主要回答。
今年的电动车虽然因为涨价因素受到了一些冲击，因为原材料的上涨，但是我们也看到就是整个全球的这个能源的一个发展方向还是向电力化方向去推进。再加上现在这个在能源的一些由于这个俄乌冲突，还有其他一些国际环境的影响，其传统能源的这个价格也是在波动很大，所以消费者也是能够吸收这一些这个电动车原材料上涨的这个压力。那就是今年呢从国内的电动车市场来说，我们一季度同比去年还是有翻倍的一个增长，尤其是头部的一些企业，像Tesla呀，还有国内的BYD啊，还有新势力的这些车企都是在大幅上涨。在传统的，在这个我们公司定位的这种A00级的这种车方面，这个销量一直是在整个高中低端车型里面的排序里面，它的销量应该也是在排在前三名的。而去年的话像这种A00级车一直是站在从数量级上来说是在整个这个汽车，消费市场，电动汽车消费市场，它应该是在排在，占比份额应该是第一和第二的这种，这种这个级别。所以说，放眼未来，这个汽车，电动汽车的这个趋势还会依然处于一种快速增长的这一个大的这个局面。我想对电池的需求也是在不断地增长，这也是符合我们自己的这个产业布局和这个市场的一个定位。
Ok. Due to the price increase of raw material, we did see some impact to the markets. However, if we have a look at a long- term market development potential, we can see that the whole market is turning into electrification. But we also have to admit that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, together with some geopolitical issues, the price fluctuation is quite huge. However, we are happy to see that the consumers can digest and understand, and also they can absorb the pressure brought by the price increase of raw material.
If we have a look at the battery industry and EV industry in China, we can see that there is a big increase, a double or even triple increase in the domestic EV markets, including we see a sharp increase in the sales of some major car manufacturer companies like Tesla and BYD etc. If we have a look at the A00 passenger cars, we can see that no matter the sales at the high end or medium end or low end, our sales amount rank always top three.
Last year in terms of A00 passenger cars, in terms of the sales volume, the total EV consumer vehicle in the sales, we also occupied number 1 and number 2 in the markets. If we look into the future, we can see that the EV market still maintain a rapid growth momentum, and in turn, the market demand for battery will also increase correspondingly. All these market situation are in line with our industrial layout and our market positioning.
这块我稍微补充一下，就是根据这个行业的机构以及平台的一些数据，预估2022年中国及海外的新能源汽车销量分别可以达到480万辆以及440万辆，那么应对这个动力电池的需求的话，预计可达到450吉瓦时的需求。轻型电动车方面的话，也是有一个很良好的表现，预计可以达到4,800万辆的需求。那这样的话，锂电的渗透率可以提升25%。2022年随着新国标的落地，国内电动两轮车这块的换购带动了轻型电动车的行业洗牌，行业迎来一个很好的发展契机。后续的话，包括锂电化、智能化以及长续航等方向，这个轻型电动车的表现也会非常不俗。那么这样的话，也切合到刚刚的这个题目，就是2022年整个动力电池这个市场的话，还会持续快速增长的势头。以上。
Yes. I want to add some more information. According to the industrial institution and data from the platform, it is estimated that the sales volume of new energy vehicles will reach 4.8 million and 4.4 million at home and abroad respectively in 2022. If we have a look at the demand for power battery, it is estimated to reach 450 GW-hours. Besides that, in terms of light electric vehicle, the sales volume of electric two wheelers in China amounted to 48 million in 2021, and the penetration rate of lithium battery was 25%.
I believe that in 2022, with the implementation of New National Standards, the sweeping of electric vehicle will accelerate the reshuffle of the light electric vehicle industry, and the industry will become more consolidated, and it will be featuring lithium battery in power, electrification, intelligence and long range. If we all add all this together, we will see that the lithium battery of light electric vehicles will also developing rapidly in car sharing, power swapping, fast charging etc. We believe that the market prospects will be promising in the future in 2022.
Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Karl Birkenfeld from Oak Street. Please go ahead.
Okay. It's American Trust Investment Services, Karl Birkenfeld, New York. The first question I have is, as the lockdowns in COVID adversely affected your production facilities in Dalian and Nanjing? That's my first question. Has COVID affected those facilities?
好，我的第一个问题，我是来自美国，我的第一个问题就是，因为新冠疫情而进行的封锁，会不会对大连还有南京的厂的生产设施带来影响。
这问题请裴总跟钱总一起回答吧。
那我先来回答一下，我们新冠疫情自2020年到现在已经有两年多的时间了。目前来看，国内的疫情在这两年期间并没有对我们大连和南京的生产造成比较大的影响。我们期间有存在过受疫情管控停产的现象，但是这个持续的时间都不是很长，所以目前来看是没有受到太大影响的。
Okay, since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the beginning of 2020, it has been over two years now. If we have a look at China, we have to say that there is no major impact in our production facilities in both Dalian and Nanjing. Although we did undergo some shutdown, however, it didn't last long, so it didn't exert a big impact on our production.
另外从客户需求端的角度来看，这两年时间内，也是新能源锂电池高速增长的两年，所以这两年的订单也是持续在增长。从客户端方面来看，也并没有受到太多的影响。
If we look at this issue from the perspective of customer need during this past two years, we witnessed a sharp increase in the need for new energy vehicle and lithium batteries. That is why our orders have been increasing. We have to say that there is no impact, no negative impact on this from the perspective of consumer needs.
Thank you. My second question I think was answered in the previous person asking question. That was the material cost increase in the lithium batteries. I guess you guys are passing the increased costs onto your consumers to keep the margins the same?
那我其实想问的第二
Oh yeah, that's my question.
所以我第二个问题呢，其实是跟刚才第一位女士她提的这个问题有点相关性的，就是刚才有提到我们原材料的价格确实是上涨了。那么，是不是说我们公司是把这个原材料价格上涨的这一部分呢，把它转移到消费者的这个身上，所以通过这样的一个方式来保持我们利润的不变呢？
这个问题请裴总来回答一下。
好的，那就是分两个业务角度来说明这个问题。首先是我们的材料业务端，因为材料是处在产业链上游的部分，那么它比较容易向下游、向中游，产业链的中游去传导这个价格，所以原材料的价格上涨比较容易地可以传递到中游和下游的客户上，这是材料上的一个影响。那么我们电池业务属于这个产业链处在中游的位置，那么它的价格传导就没有原材料的这么迅速，它有一个滞后性。那么我们的电池业务，去年来讲呢，我们是受了一定的碳酸锂价格的上涨，导致我们的利润有一定的影响，但是这个影响会在我们2021年的年末、四季度以及2022年会陆续传导到我们的下游客户。
Ok. We are going to answer this question from two different business segments. First of all, let's have a look at our material business. As our material business stands at the upstream of the industrial chain, so it is more easy for us to pass the price increase to the middle or the lower end. And if we have a look at the second segment that is our battery business. Battery business we stand in at the middle end. And then for the passing over of the price increase, it will be a little bit slower. There will be some latency in it. Due to the increase of the price of lithium carbonate, there will be some impacts in our battery business.
We are going to see an influence starting from Q4 of 2021 and then also in this year. We're going to see a passing down of the price increase to the downstream gradually.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. We have a follow-up question from the line of Laura Liu from Stone Street Group. Please go ahead.
Okay. Can you state it first? I have a question concerning the strategic priority of the company in 2022. Could you give us some updates?
I'm going to say that there were two areas of priorities that we will pay special attention to in the year 2022. First of all, we are going to try to maintain our advantages in the traditional business, including energy storage and LEV. We will try to maintain a rapid growth in this area. Besides that, we will also try to research and develop more high-end products. Secondly, we will also try to gain more customers, especially big customers in our vehicle business.
This year we are going to focusing and centering on these strategies, so as to ensure that these two priorities will be well attended. In terms of product line allocation, we will try our best to promote the construction and operation of Nanjing Phase II projects, and also try to accumulate more market needs to ensure that after the expansion of capacity, our products will well meet the needs of the customers, the medium and big customers. I also want to add that according to our business strategy, actually our energy storage business have witnessed big growth, especially that we have gained a lot of orders from the overseas markets. Our order scheduling has been made until 2023 already.
We will also try to attend more to two-wheeler and LEV customers, not only overseas but also in the domestic markets. We will also try to grow our business in LEV, especially in some business with big profits like battery swapping and battery charging. For Nanjing, we will also have the plan to develop the large cylindrical batteries, which we believe will be suitable for the A00 and A0 passenger cars. We will try our best to make all this priority well implemented.
我再简单来补充一些。就是，刚刚王总也介绍了，我们目前手中的订单已经是供不应求的一个情况，那么我们在2021年用了一年的时间去完成大连和南京两个基地的这个产能的扩张。那整个一年的时间扩张完成后，那么我们目前已经具备了拥有较好的产能以及足量的客户订单，那么这些在2022年的财年都会反映到我们的财务数据上，会有一个比较良好的一个增长。那么，我们会在现有产能充分利用的基础之上，那继续再根据市场需求来考虑建设我们大连和南京的两个生产基地的产能的继续扩展。那这一方面是电池的业务。那么另外在材料端的业务上来讲，那么我们收购这个Hitrans，除了带给我们这个整合上下游产业链的一个战略价值以外，那么，因为今年材料价格还是继续上涨的趋势，那么所以这个原材料的业务也会成为我们一项主营业务中的一个亮点。所以，我想2022年的财年，我们的业绩应该还是非常值得期待的。谢谢。
I just want to add more points. The previous speaker just mentioned about that our orders have been received until 2023, that is to say that now the demand has outperformed the supply, exceeding the supply. In 2021, we use 1 year to expand the production capacity of our Dalian and Nanjing facilities, which have put us in a very good position to provide enough production capacity. On the other hand, we have already gained sufficient orders. All these two favorable conditions will lead to, which we believe are outstanding, financial performance in the year 2022. We will try our best to make good use of the existing capacity. We will also have a close look at the market needs and to decide whether to further expand our capacity in Nanjing or Dalian or not.
What I've been talking about is our battery business. If we have a look at our material business, after the acquisition of Hitrans, we have well integrated the upstream and downstream supply chain. Given that the price of raw materials have been increasing, the acquisition will also well- positioned us in a favorable position. I believe that our material business will also be a highlight in our major business in 2022. With all this, adding all these factors together, I believe that the performance of our company in 2022 can be well anticipated. We have confidence in it.
Thank you. Laura, do you have any further questions?
没有了，以上就是我所有问题，谢谢。
I have no more questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Seeing no more questions in the queue. Let me turn the call back to Mr. Yunfei Li for closing remarks.
非常感谢各位参加今天的电话会，我们期待下一季度再和各位汇报新的进展。谢谢。
Thank you all again.
Thank you all for joining this meeting, and we are looking forward to providing you more updates in the next quarter's earnings meeting.
Thank you all again. This concludes the call. You may now disconnect.