EVTank, a research institution, believes that 2024 will be the year when the production capacity of newly-built graphitization and negative electrode materials was released in the previous two years. The whole industry will face greater pressure of overcapacity, the price of negative electrode materials will still face great downward pressure. On the other hand, with the completion of a large number of integrated production capacity, the third-party independent graphitization processing capacity will face greater pressure to start.

In the first half of 2024, under the influence of factors such as the slowdown of terminal demand growth and overcapacity, the competition in the lithium anode industry tends to be white-hot, and the price of negative electrode materials continues to be depressed, approaching the cost line, the industry as a whole is at the bottom of the industrial cycle, accelerating to enter the shuffling stage.

Recently, battery the network counted the performance of 17 listed companies with negative materials, and the total revenue of 17 enterprises including the statistics in the first half of 2024 (some listed companies involved in negative materials business through equity participation) was about 59.384 billion yuan, the average revenue is about 3.493 billion yuan; The total net profit in the first half of the year is about 2.859 billion yuan, and the average net profit is about 0.168 billion yuan.

Specifically, in the first half of this year, 12 companies had a revenue of over 1 billion, and 8 companies had a year-on-year growth. The largest increase was Baichuan shares; 9 companies had a year-on-year decline in revenue, the biggest drop is Yicheng new energy. In the first half of this year, 9 net profits exceeded 100 million, 7 achieved year-on-year growth, and the largest increase was Baichuan shares; 10 net profits fell year-on-year, and the largest decrease was also Yicheng Xineng.

Head concentration is further improved

SMM data show that in the first half of 2024, the output of graphite anode materials in China was 816400 tons, an increase of 9.6% compared with the first half of 2023. Industry concentration continues to rise. The total market share of the top six largest enterprises in the industry is 78%, of which bertray still maintains the first position in the production of negative materials industry, accounting for about 25%.

At the same time, the battery network found out from the semi-annual report of the top 5 listed companies with negative electrode material output in the first half of this year (bertray, Shanshan shares, Zhongke Electric, Shang Tai technology, Putai Lai) that fast charging performance negative electrode material, silicon-based negative electrode material, the industrialization trend of new negative electrode materials such as hard carbon negative electrode materials and metal negative electrode materials is obvious. Some enterprises have achieved technical certification of many customers' products and gradually started to ship in batches.

Bertray

in the first half of 2024, bertray, a subsidiary of Baoan of China, achieved a revenue of 5.179 billion yuan for negative materials, with shipments exceeding 200000 tons, up year on year. Under many unfavorable factors of industry, it maintains a strong production and marketing level, maintains a stable leading position in the industry, and maintains the world's number one in negative pole shipments.

In the first half of the year, bertray accelerated the construction of Indonesia's 80000 tons of new energy lithium battery cathode material Integration Project (Phase I), increased capital to build Indonesia's 80000 tons of lithium battery cathode material Integration Project (Phase II), and started the project of investing in the construction of the cathode material of lithium ion batteries with an annual output of 50000 tons in Morocco. By the first half of the year, bertray had put into production the cathode material capacity of 495000 tons/year.

In terms of silicon-carbon anode materials, bertray has developed to the fifth generation products with a specific capacity of more than 2,000Ah/g. Silicon-oxygen anode materials have completed the technical development andMass production work, the specific capacity reaches more than 1,500Ah/g.

In terms of low-cost fast-charging graphite, bertray continues to promote product research and development and technological innovation. Among them, low-cost fast-charging graphite has been successfully imported into important customers, and long-cycle silicon carbon materials have been delivered in batches.

Shanshan shares

in the first half of 2024, Shanshan shares realized operating income of 8.82 billion yuan and net profit of about 17.5745 million yuan. In the first half of the year, the company achieved a year-on-year increase of more than 50% in sales of negative materials. Benefiting from the promotion of downstream demand and the implementation of the company's cost reduction and efficiency improvement measures, the company's negative material orders were full in the second quarter of 2024, the sales volume increased significantly month on month, and the net profit also improved significantly month on month.

In terms of silicon-carbon anode materials, Shanshan Co., Ltd. has continuously achieved technological breakthroughs, continuously won the recognition of customers at home and abroad, and achieved batch supply. Silicon oxygen products have been supplied to overseas head customers in batches, and have been loaded. At the same time, the second generation of silicon oxygen low temperature cycle has been solved. Related products have been imported into overseas head electric tool enterprises; Silicon carbon products have been continuously iterated, the new generation of Silicon carbon products remain ahead in the head customer test, and relevant core technologies have been patented by the United States and Japan.

In terms of fast-charging products, Shanshan shares broke through the bottleneck of high-energy density fast-charging technology, and fast-charging products continued to be upgraded iteratively. Consumer fast-charging products continue to maintain a leading market share, and have achieved batch shipment of 5C products and ton-level supply of 6C products; The shipments of power fast-charging products have increased rapidly, and 4C, the large-scale supply of 5C products, and 6C products have been finalized by customers, and batch stability verification is being carried out. The technology leading advantage of fast charge products has been further expanded, realizing the intergenerational leading of fast charge product system.

Zhongke Electric

in the first half of 2024, Zhongke Electric realized operating income of 2.264 billion yuan, an increase of 1.32 percent year-on-year; Net profit of 69.26 million yuan, turning losses into profits year-on-year. Among them, the company's lithium anode plate realizes operating income2.079 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.53%; In terms of shipments, Zhongke Electric lithium anode business relies on the leading advantages of high-voltage fast charging and super-charging anode material products and the effective development of energy storage market, the shipment volume of negative electrode materials was 92000 tons, an increase of year on year.

At present, the production capacity of Zhongke Electric anode material is 236600 tons, and the production capacity under construction is 93800 tons. In the first half of the year, the output of anode material is 94700 tons, and the current capacity utilization rate is 80.07%.

In terms of new negative electrode materials such as silicon carbon and hard carbon, Zhongke Electric Holding subsidiary Zhongke Xingcheng has continuously improved and perfected from materials, technology to performance evaluation; the new generation of automatic intelligent graphitization furnace designed and built by ourselves has the advantages of low power consumption cost, low cost of stove core consumables, high degree of automation, green and environmental protection, etc, it further consolidated the company's leading position in graphitization technology and intelligent equipment industry; It has the integrated construction and operation capability of the whole equipment of negative materials and the design, construction and operation of the whole production line, the production line automation level of anode materials designed and constructed by ourselves is leading in the industry.

Shang Tai technology

in the first half of 2024, shangtai technology's operating income was about 2.093 billion yuan, an increase of 6.45% year-on-year; Net profit was about 0.357 billion yuan, benefiting from the rapid growth of market demand for related products, in the first half of the year, the company achieved a rapid increase in the sales volume of negative materials, with the sales volume reaching 83800 tons, an increase of over 55% year-on-year.

Shang Tai technology said that since 2024, on the basis of long-term accumulation of technology and technology, the company has achieved a new generation of "fast charge" and "Super Charge" performance and batch shipment of artificial graphite anode materials for new energy storage terminals, driven by the rapid increase in market demand for terminal new energy vehicle power batteries and energy storage batteries, the scale of production and sales has risen rapidly, pushing the sales volume of negative materials of the company to rise sharply year-on-year.

Pu Tailai

In terms of silicon-carbon anode materials, Pu Tailai's new silicon-carbon anode materials have high performance such as high capacity, low expansion and long cycle. They are a few enterprises with mass production capability in China, except for high-end consumer lithium ion batteries, it can also be adapted to semi-solid/solid-state batteries. Currently, CVD deposited silicon-carbon anode products are successfully imported into consumer customers, and shipments continue to grow.

Putailai fast charging products have made new progress. At present, the new products of the company's fast charging negative electrode have met the performance requirements of 6C, and the use of self-produced binder can meet the performance requirements of 8C fast charging, related products have passed the technical certification of many customers' products and gradually began to be shipped in batches. At the same time, the company has developed new technologies and processes such as material modification, material coating, particle morphology treatment, etc, further improve the performance of fast charging negative electrode products in dynamics and other aspects.

Cost reduction and efficiency increase against competitive pressure

at present, the price of negative electrode materials is at the bottom of history, and the market of negative electrode materials has experienced white-hot competition. The capacity utilization rate of enterprises in the industry has shown an obvious "polarization" trend. Under the background of mismatch between supply and demand, the competitive pressure of lithium anode market is increasing. According to the statistics of the battery network, among the performance of 17 negative materials in the first half of 2024, the net profit of 10 negative materials showed a downward trend. How to lead the enterprises out of the cycle and get on the right track, the listed companies of negative materials gave the answer and reduced costs and increased efficiency became the best option.

EVTank, a research institution, believes that in the short term, 2024 will be the year when the production capacity of newly-built graphitization and negative electrode materials was released in the previous two years, the whole industry will face greater pressure of overcapacity, and the price of negative electrode materials will still face greater downward pressure.

Facing the current situation of the negative electrode material industry, Shang taitechnology said that on the one hand, the company achieved sales growth through strengthening technology development, differentiated products, and got rid of the cruel situation of traditional product price "involution, on the other hand, actively practice various cost-reducing and efficiency-increasing measures, update technology and equipment, improve production efficiency through informatization, intelligence and fine management, and continue to challenge the" cost limit ", under the circumstance that the overall price level of negative electrode materials is far lower than that of the same period last year, core performance indicators such as net profit only declined slightly, achieving better performance.

Shanshan shares also said that in the face of the profit pressure brought by the decline in product prices, the company carried out the work of tapping potential and increasing efficiency, anchored the target of cost reduction, dug deep into the potential of cost reduction, and made every effort to improve the profit level.

In the first half of the year, Shanshan Co., Ltd. continued to carry out cost reduction measures such as reducing raw materials, improving production processes, reducing energy consumption, improving intelligent manufacturing level and improving production efficiency. At the same time, the company has steadily promoted the gradual release of the advantageous production capacity of the Yunnan integration base. The Yunnan base adopts new box furnace technology, and through means such as increasing the loading capacity and rapid cooling, the graphitization cost of the company's self-supply has been further reduced.

Bertray said that the company continued to promote cost reduction, efficiency improvement and lean management, and achieved product cost reduction through cost reduction in yield, cost reduction in raw materials, cost reduction in lean projects, and cost reduction in processes, thus achieving a year-on-year increase in gross profit margin.

At the same time, Pu Tailai also mentioned that the company actively reduces costs and increases efficiency through various methods such as technological innovation, process optimization and product serialization, and the production cost of negative materials has been continuously improved.

In the view of Zhongke Xingcheng, it opens up all links of graphitization, carbonization and raw materials, has integrated production capacity layout of negative materials, and has customer accumulation and technical details, only by promoting lean management can enterprises gain cost advantages and competitive advantages and win long-term development. As the company's inventory price returns to normal level andWith the continuous release of the effect of cost reduction and efficiency enhancement measures, the company's profit level has also improved significantly year-on-year.

Summary:

EVTank predicts that the global shipment of negative electrode materials will exceed 8 million tons by 2030, and the industry prospect still has great development potential and opportunities.

In the current market environment, the price of negative electrode materials remains at a relatively low level. At the same time, leading enterprises in the industry are showing more obvious agglomeration effect, and the focus of competition among enterprises has shifted from simple price war to the pursuit of product quality. In order to adapt to the cyclical changes in the market, enterprises are improving their competitiveness by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. They not only invest more energy in the improvement of production technology and equipment, but also plan forward-looking new technology paths, strive to occupy a favorable position in the future competition.