Last year, Chinese companies swept the top 10 spots in the global anode materials market, causing POSCO FUTURE M, the only producer of anode materials in Korea, to fall to 11th place.
Anode materials are considered one of the four core components that make up batteries, along with cathode materials, separators, and electrolytes. They play a role in storing and releasing lithium ions from the cathode, affecting battery charging speed and performance.
According to SNE Research on the 21st, last year the demand for lithium secondary battery anode materials was 1.97 million tons (t), while shipments totaled 2.11 million t. Compared to 2023, both demand and shipments increased by 26% and 25%, respectively.
Of the total anode material shipments, synthetic graphite accounted for 1.76 million t, or approximately 83%. Natural graphite followed with 290,000 t (14%), and silicon anode materials accounted for 41,000 t (1.9%).
All of the top 10 companies by shipment volume were Chinese corporations. The top spot went to BTR, which shipped over 432,000 t in the last year. Following were Shanshan (340,000 t), Xinju (213,000 t), and Sangtai (208,000 t). The market share of the top 10 companies is approximately 84%.
Korean and Japanese anode material companies are trending downward due to the excessive production and low-price competition among Chinese companies. POSCO FUTURE M has fallen from 6th place in 2020 to 8th in 2021, 10th in 2022 and 2023, and finally to 11th (27,200 t) last year.
POSCO FUTURE M turned to losses last year as losses surged due to the electric vehicle chasm (temporary demand slowdown) and the U.S. government's suspension of the supply of Chinese graphite anode materials. It also struggled against price competition from Chinese graphite products.
Japan's Rezonal has ceased production of graphite electrodes for steel companies in China and Malaysia and has scaled back its production lines. It continues to show a passive approach to expanding its graphite business for lithium-ion batteries (LiB).