The global lithium battery anode material industry is experiencing a clear recovery in sentiment. According to data from the Power Battery Application Branch, in mid-August, the price of mid-end artificial graphite anode material reached 28,300 yuan/mt, up nearly 30% from the bottom of 22,000 yuan/mt in 2025; the price of high-end products could reach above 48,500 yuan/mt, up over 10% from the bottom of 43,000 yuan/mt YoY.
In H2 this year, the pace of anode material capacity construction in China has also accelerated markedly.
Recently, the construction of Guizhou Depu New Materials' 20,000 mt/yr lithium-ion anode material project entered a critical phase and is expected to commence production in October this year; on August 14, BTR's 80,000 mt/yr lithium battery anode expansion project entered the environmental impact assessment publicity period, which will add 40,000 mt/yr of natural graphite and 40,000 mt/yr of artificial graphite anode material; on August 12, the second public notice on the ecological and environmental impact assessment of the 200,000 mt/yr high-end lithium battery material project in Gui'an New District, Guizhou Province, was released, with a total investment of 3.55 billion yuan and a capacity of 200,000 mt of anode material to be built.
Hunan Zhongke Shinzoom Co., Ltd. disclosed that it had completed construction of 280,000 mt of graphitisation capacity at the end of 2025, and is currently actively and steadily advancing the second phase of the 100,000 mt/yr anode material integrated project in Yunnan Zhongke Star City, and the 300,000 mt/yr lithium battery anode material integrated project in Luzhou, Sichuan.
According to industry statistics, global anode material production in H1 2026 was 1.955 million mt, up nearly 50% YoY; among them, artificial anode material, leveraging its product performance and high cost-effectiveness, saw its market share rise to 95%. Industry institutions forecast that global demand for lithium battery anode materials in 2026 will exceed 3.8 million mt.
Silicon Carbon Anode Accelerates Market Penetration
As new energy vehicles, ESS batteries, and others demand higher battery energy density, charge/discharge performance, and cycle life from lithium batteries, the market has placed higher technical requirements on anode material performance. Silicon carbon anode, as the core upgrade direction for next-generation high-energy-density lithium batteries, systematically breaks through the performance ceiling of traditional graphite anode through a composite structure design of silicon and carbon.
The market is accelerating the adoption of silicon carbon anode. CATL's Kirin condensed-state battery has already brought silicon carbon composite anode material to the passenger car market; BYD's second-generation blade battery has adopted silicon carbon anode; Sunwoda has applied silicon carbon anode battery technology to consumer electronics; SAIC IM L6's quasi-900V ultra-fast charging solid-state battery uses composite silicon carbon material; Changan Automobile's Golden Bell jar battery also adopts silicon carbon anode.
"Current silicon carbon anode has rapidly penetrated from early small-scale applications in power tools and consumer electronics to high-end power batteries and energy storage scenarios, and is expected to see a high-end application explosion starting 2026," industry analysts noted. The capacity per gram of silicon carbon anode products from China's top-tier players can reach over 1,600 mAh/g. As capacity continues to release, their costs are rapidly converging with traditional graphite anode, gradually becoming the mainstream technology choice for next-generation lithium battery anodes.
Industry enterprises are actively ramping up deployment. In August this year, Shandong Litian's 6,500 mt/yr silicon carbon anode material project completed filing, and the overall civil engineering work is now in full swing. It is understood that the project will be built in two phases: the first phase has a capacity of 1,500 mt, with the first stage of 500 mt expected to commence production in September this year and the second stage of 1,000 mt expected to commence production in December this year. The second phase plans a capacity of 5,000 mt, with completion and production expected by the end of 2027.
Shengquan Group stated that its porous carbon supporting silicon carbon anode has achieved large-scale production, with products already entering top-tier consumer electronics battery cell enterprises, while power battery client verification tests are advancing in parallel, and a thousand-ton-level silicon carbon production line will be put into operation within the year. Xiang Fenghua stated that it has reserved silicon carbon anode material production technology, with related products applicable to solid-state and semi-solid-state battery systems, which have been handed over to battery manufacturer clients for testing and verification, and are currently advancing client certification and industrialisation.
According to industry statistics, the global silicon carbon anode market size exceeded 10 billion yuan in 2025, completing a key leap from early small-batch trial use to large-scale vehicle integration. With technological maturity improving, the upstream core raw material supply chain continuously improving, and downstream demand expanding, the industry expects the global silicon carbon anode market size to exceed 50 billion yuan by 2030.
CVD Technology Breakthrough
Among numerous technology routes, CVD (chemical vapor deposition) silicon carbon anode is currently recongnised by the industry as the mainstream high-performmance silicon carbon anode route. Its core is to address the volume expansion issue of silicon materials through the chemical vapor deposition process, and domestic top-tier players are focusing on this direction for mass production. This process fully confines silicon particles within the closed pores of porous carbon, so that during charge/discharge, volume expansion is fully buffered by the carbon skeleton, with overall expansion rates far lower than those of traditional ball-milling silicon carbon anodes.
According to Dongguan Securities stats, in 2024, silicon oxide anode shipments accounted for over 70% of all silicon-based anode shipments, while CVD new-type gaseous silicon carbon anode shipments accounted for about 20%. The institution expects that as the CVD process matures gradually, its shipments share will exceed 75% by 2030, completely replacing silicon oxide anode as the mainstream technology route in the silicon-based anode track, achieving technological iteration and upgrade of the silicon-based anode industry.
Industry enterprises are continuously increasing investment in CVD silicon carbon anode. In July this year, Fuerri Joint Stock Company announced a plan to acquire 78.80% of the equity of silicon carbon anode enterprise Bosaillisi for 399.6 million yuan, and the transaction has been approved by its board of directors. Bosaillisi uses the CVD process route to produce silicon carbon anode material, has passed material verification by leading battery clients, and is in mass production supply stage, with an annual planned capacity for gaseous silicon carbon of about 540 mt.
Gaorong Nano stated that it has independently developed nano-method high-performance silicon carbon and CVD-method new-type high-capacity silicon carbon. The former solves the pulverisation issue through particle size control of 30-40 nm, while the latter achieves extremely high mass production consistency through a self-developed carbon skeleton. Binhai Energy stated that it has built a lab-scale and pilot-scale platform for new-type CVD silicon carbon anode material, and has developed multiple silicon carbon anode products using pitch-based porous carbon precursors, and has begun client sample delivery.
In addition, traditional anode industry leaders such as BTR, PTL, and Hunan Zhongke Shinzoom Co., Ltd. have long accumulated technical reserves in the CVD silicon carbon field for years, with some enterprises' ton-level pilot lines running stably. Industry analysis believes that the entire CVD silicon carbon track has fully entered an acceleration phase for mass production and landing, and is expected to become the core material supporting high-energy-density batteries in the next five years.
![[Solid-state battery: Qinghai's 3,000 mt per year lithium sulfide project completed filing]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/AYpRQ20251217171727.jpg)
