Sodium battery station on the "tuyere" limit of several concept stocks?

"We may release some [products] in July, for example, our sodium battery has matured." The remarks made by Zeng Yuqun, chairman of 300750.SZ, at the shareholders' meeting pushed the sodium battery into the "tuyere" of the capital market.

Affected by this, May 24, China Salt Chemical, Shengyang shares and other sodium battery concept stocks rose by the limit. But a reporter from the Financial Associated Press found that the situation of these companies was different. Among them, the downstream application of metal sodium of medium Salt Chemical Industry (600328.SH) is mainly indigo powder and pharmaceutical intermediates. Shengyang shares (002580.SZ) said that "the company is in a state of continuous observation", while Huayang shares (600348.Sh) said that "the project of positive and negative materials for sodium ion batteries is in the preliminary preparation stage."

Why sodium batteries?

Zeng Yuqun said at the shareholders' meeting of Ningde era in 2020: "the progress of our chemical system is very fast, but there is still a lithium in it, it is still stir-frying, I will get rid of it for you right away, get a sodium, what do you think of frying?" I don't think sodium chloride can stir-fry. There's a lot of salt, isn't it? " Similarly, at the beginning of this year, Academician Chen Liquan, known as the "father of lithium batteries," also said, "Lithium-ion batteries are used to store electricity all over the world, which is simply not enough. Sodium-ion batteries are the first choice for new batteries."

Compared with lithium resources, it is rich in sodium, which is indeed one of the advantages of sodium batteries. According to Abraham, the amount of sodium in the earth's crust is more than 1000 times that of lithium. Sodium-ion batteries are about 10% cheaper than lithium-ion batteries by about 20%.

In addition, the positive materials of sodium ion battery are copper iron manganese oxide, nickel ternary system and phosphoric acid system, negative hard carbon, sodium ion compound and so on. The positive elements of sodium ion battery mostly use cheaper elements such as copper, iron and manganese. Aluminum foil can be used as a current collector for the negative electrode, which also contributes to the cost reduction to a certain extent.

A research newspaper pointed out that according to the progress of the Ningde era, it may be really applied to scale in the next 2-3 years or so, and it is cheaper than lithium iron phosphate battery. in the future, it is expected to reach 20 cents per watt hour (currently lithium iron phosphate is about 50 to 60 cents per watt hour).

However, it is worth noting that sodium ions are still faced with some problems, such as insufficient industrial maturity, lower energy density than mainstream batteries and so on. Although the manufacturing process is very close to that of lithium batteries, cathode materials, anode materials and electrolytes need to be produced on a large scale. In addition, the energy density of sodium battery is on the low side, and the current technology can only reach about 130wh/kg (about 200wh/kg in theory), which is lower than the iron lithium of Guoxuan Hi-Tech 210Wh/kg, while the ternary battery has long been claimed to be above 300Wh/kg.

Obviously, due to the natural defect of energy density, sodium battery is difficult to replace the high-end application of lithium battery. China Merchants Dianxin believes that sodium battery has the advantages of low cost and good safety, which is a supplement to the application scenario of lithium battery. in the future, it will have certain application potential in energy storage, two-wheeled vehicles and other small power batteries, and the replacement rate of energy storage and small power batteries is expected to reach 30-50% in 2025. The impact of sodium-based batteries on lithium carbonate demand is 3.4%.

What are the qualities of concept stocks?

The study of sodium storage electrodes can be traced back to the 1970s and almost goes hand in hand with the study of lithium storage materials, mainly because they have similar atomic structure and electrochemical characteristics. However, due to the practical application and more energy density advantages of lithium-ion battery, the research of sodium-ion battery is quite backward, so the current sodium-ion battery industry chain is quite immature compared with lithium-ion battery.

The companies involved in the concept of sodium battery in domestic A shares are mainly Ningde Times, Xin Wanda (300207.SZ), Penghui Energy (300438.SZ), China Salt Chemical, Huayang, Nanfeng Chemical (000737.SZ), China Great Wall (000066.SZ) and Shengyang shares and so on. Among them, China Salt Chemical Co., Ltd., Huayang shares and Shengyang shares harvested the trading board on May 24.

Specifically, China Salt Chemical is the world's leading manufacturer of metal sodium, with the largest scale, the lowest cost, and the best technology and quality. The company has a metal sodium production capacity of 65000 tons, accounting for 40.5% of the global production capacity. However, it is worth noting that, or different from what investors think, China Salt Chemical replied in the Interactive easy: "the downstream applications of the company's metal sodium are mainly indigo powder and pharmaceutical intermediates."

As mentioned above, the cathode materials of sodium ion battery are copper iron manganese oxide, nickel ternary system and phosphoric acid system, and do not use metal sodium directly. So, is the limit of concept stocks out of the logic of resource control? However, a reporter from the Financial Associated Press consulted the relevant research papers and found that the content of sodium (2.75%) ranks sixth in the earth's crust, and the content of super lithium is 1000 times. It has a very high abundance and is widely distributed.

At present, Shengyang's main products are lithium-ion batteries and systems, lead-acid batteries and systems, new energy system integration products and services, etc. For the progress of sodium ion battery-related technology, the company told the Financial Associated Press: "at present, the company is in a state of continuous observation." Huayang said that its subsidiary sodium ion battery positive and negative materials project is in the early stage of preparation.

People involved in China's Great Wall, whose share price rose more than 7% on the day, "confirmed" that sodium-ion batteries developed by subordinate companies had been applied to electric bicycles, but this portion of revenue accounted for relatively small part of China's total revenue. For the capacity, sodium battery performance indicators and other specific information, the company has not provided.

At the same time, Penghui Energy revealed in Interactive easy: "the company has made a sample of sodium ion battery (using phosphate sodium positive electrode and hard carbon system negative electrode) and conducted a pilot test in June, which is expected to be mass produced by the end of the year." However, the secondary market did not seem to buy it, and the company closed the day with a slight decline.

In addition to the above-mentioned listed companies, non-listed companies seem to have come to the front of the stage on sodium ion batteries. As early as 2019, the sodium ion battery production line independently developed by Star Sodium Power was born in Anshan, Liaoning Province, known as "the world's first sodium ion battery production line put into operation." In 2020, Zhongke Hai Na's sodium ion battery products will be mass produced, and the cell production capacity will reach 300000 pieces per month.