South Korea's three electric vehicle (EV) battery makers saw their global market shares fall in the first two months of the year amid Chinese rivals' big advances, a market tracker said Wednesday.

Worldwide consumption of EV batteries stood at 25.2 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the January-February period, up 102.4 percent from a year earlier, according to SNE Research.

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., which spun off from LG Chem Ltd. in December last year, shipped 4.8 GWh equivalents of EV batteries, up 45.8 percent from the previous year.

But LG Energy Solution's global market share slipped to 19.2 percent from 26.6 percent over the cited period, with its ranking falling to second from first.

Samsung SDI Co.'s shipments surged 23.8 percent to 1.3 GWh during the two-month period, ranking fifth in the world. Yet its market share shrank to 5.3 percent from 8.6 percent.

SK Innovation Co. shipped 1.3 GWh equivalents of EV batteries, up 69 percent from a year earlier and placing sixth worldwide. But its global market share inched down to 5 percent from 6 percent.

China's CATL captured the top spot with a supply of 8 GWh, which was up 272 percent from a year earlier. Its market share soared to 31.7 percent from 17.3 percent.

Japan's Panasonic shipped 4.3 GWh, up 54.4 percent from a year earlier, with its market share dropping to 17.2 percent from 22.5 percent.

Chinese maker BYD's shipments spiked 401.8 percent on-year to 1.8 GWh in the two-month period, ranking fourth worldwide. Its market share jumped to 7 percent from 2.8 percent.

In February, the global supply of EV batteries reached 11.2 GWh, down 108.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Seoul-based market researcher. (Yonhap)