Negative electrode prices rose by the maximum increase of 20,000 yuan / ton

A new round of price adjustments for anode materials is spreading.

High-tech lithium battery recently learned that compared to the first half of this year, all types of lithium anode materials prices have been adjusted upwards. At present, the high-end lithium battery cathode product exceeds 100,000 yuan / ton, the mid-range product price is 70,000-80,000 yuan / ton, the low-end product is hovering at 3-4 yuan / ton, the price increase of up to 40%.

According to the different types of products and processes, the price level of each lithium anode material varies greatly. Such as needle coke type artificial graphite rose in 1-2 million / ton, petroleum coke type artificial graphite rose in 1800-2000 yuan / ton, natural graphite rose in 3000-4000 yuan / ton.

According to feedback from a number of negative electrode materials companies and battery companies, lithium-ion negative electrode materials have been declining in price for the past few years. The reasons for the price increase are mainly due to:

First, the price of raw materials and graphitization increased. Taking the needle coke of artificial graphite as an example, due to the country's rectification of the steel-making industry, the demand for electric arc furnaces and graphite electrodes has greatly increased. This has led directly to the supply of needle coke and graphite coke, and prices have risen. Compared with the beginning of the year, the prices of needle coke have increased. More than 4 times.

At the same time, as the national environmental supervision team strictly controls the graphitized chemical factories, many companies are forced to shut down, and the graphitization processing fee for anode material companies has increased by 4000-5000 yuan/ton.

Due to the change in supply and demand, anode materials companies began to purchase raw materials in cash and paid for graphitization processing fees, which increased the pressure on funds.

Second, since the beginning of this year, many domestic battery manufacturers have expanded their production capacity, and demand for lithium negative electrodes has greatly increased. According to the company's public information statistics, as of October 19th, domestic power battery expansion companies include: 16 battery companies including Ningde Times, Zhonghang Lithium Battery, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Weihong Power, and National Energy Battery announced expansion and expansion. Total capacity exceeds 86Gwh. (See the table below for details)

At the same time, research data from the Institute of Advanced Industrial Production and Lithium Research (GGII) shows that in the first half of 2017, China's output of negative electrode materials was 66,200 tons, an increase of 37% year-on-year. It is expected that the market size of China's negative electrode materials will exceed 8 billion yuan this year, a year-on-year growth rate of between 20% and 30%.

In summary, the demand for anodes for power batteries showed a growth in scale, while the prices of raw materials at the supply side increased. The cathode materials companies began to increase prices in September after they had self-digested some of the pressure in the first half of the year. At present, the prices of the leading domestic negative electrode materials companies have stabilized.

According to industry sources, raw material price increases and cash purchases have led to a decline in negative electrode material company profits. Despite the current stage of price increases, but based on the policy, battery companies in the long-term plan for cost reduction, the overall anode material prices will continue to decline as a whole trend.

[Influence] Accelerating Graphite Production Line for Negative Material Enterprises

One of the most noticeable changes in this wave of negative electrode material price rises is that many anode companies that have chosen OEM have accelerated their graphitization production lines, while companies such as Shanshan Co., Ltd., which have graphitized production capabilities, have benefited from Cost control, performance growth is significant.

In general, there are five to six processes for the processing of artificial graphite anode materials (from raw material processing to finished product processing). Graphitization process is very important in most domestic anode material production processes. However, contrary to the high capital investment, the existence of certain technical barriers, and high environmental protection requirements, most negative companies will choose to outsource the work.

As mentioned in the previous article, due to reasons such as environmental protection and cost reduction this year, Snow, Kaijin and other companies have chosen to build their own projects. Many traditional listed companies have begun to enter this market by targeting such gaps, such as Bao Tailong and Hao Tian. Group; Some new companies such as Inner Mongolia Ruisheng Carbon New Material Co., Ltd. are also coming out.

According to GGII analysis, the negative electrode is currently the most mature lithium battery material. In the environment where the power battery industrial chain is used to reduce costs, how to strengthen cost control from the graphitization and other subdivided processing fields becomes the key to negative electrode material companies winning the future market.