A Japanese daily says South Korea is likely to have outpaced Japan to rise to number one in global production of lithium batteries.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun says a survey by Japan's Techno Systems Research Company shows the global share of South Korean lithium batteries was similar to that of Japan in the first quarter, and Korea's share is likely to have surpassed Japan since April.

The share of Samsung SDI's lithium batteries rose one and a half percentage points from last year's fourth quarter to 21 percent in the first quarter. LG Chem's share grew to 16-point-six percent to result in a combined Korean share of 37-point-seven percent.

During the same period, Japan's SANYO Electric's share gained modestly to rise to 19-point-eight percent but Sony's share fell for a combined Japanese share of 38 percent in the global lithium battery market.