According to market researcher SNE Research on Monday, separator installations in pure-electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles registered worldwide reached about 7.49 billion square meters in the January to May period, a 20.7 percent increase from a year earlier.
Excluding China, installations rose a steeper 38.7 percent to about 2.61 billion square meters, pointing to a recovery in demand outside the world's largest EV market.
A critical component that governs the safety, output and lifespan of lithium-ion cells, the separator has seen demand swell as EV adoption widens and automakers pack higher-energy-density cells into their vehicles.
China's Semcorp held onto the top spot with about 2.21 billion square meters, up 15 percent on the year, while compatriots Senior and Sinoma grew 19 percent and 15 percent respectively. Fourth-ranked Gellec surged 72 percent, whereas Korea's SKIET slid 13 percent.
Chinese firms commanded 89.6 percent of the market in the first quarter, up three percentage points from a year earlier, as Japanese suppliers slipped to 6.7 percent and Korean players to 3.7 percent.
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