SMM Analysis: Downstream Demand Increased, Anode Material Production Rose in March

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SMM April 1 News:

In March 2025, China's anode material production increased by 13% MoM and 26% YoY.

Demand side, as the market gradually recovered in March, demand from various downstream sectors increased. In the NEV market, end-user demand showed a growth trend, directly prompting power battery cell manufacturers to raise their operating rates, leading to a significant increase in demand for anode materials from power battery cell manufacturers this month. In the ESS sector, the market has gradually emerged from the sluggish period, with ESS battery cell manufacturers significantly increasing their procurement volume of anode materials this month. In the consumer sector, consumer battery cell enterprises raised their production schedules this month, driving up the procurement demand for anode materials. Supply side, against the backdrop of recovering downstream demand, the operating rate of anode material enterprises increased compared to the previous month. However, due to the pullback in coke prices not matching the previous increases, the production enthusiasm of anode enterprises remains below expectations, and the MoM increase in anode production is also lower than that of battery cell production.

In April, the production schedules of downstream battery cell enterprises are expected to further increase, but the growth rate may slow down due to factors such as tariffs. Coke prices may experience a slight decline as maintenance shutdowns end and imported coke arrives at ports. In this context, anode enterprises, with their previous inventory at low levels, may raise their operating rates in April. It is expected that China's anode material production will increase by 7% MoM and 22% YoY in April.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Cong Wang 021-51666838
Rui Ma 021-51595780
Disheng Feng 021-51666714
Yanlin Lyu 021-20707875
Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711
Haohan Zhang 021-51666752
Zihan Wang 021-51666914
Jie Wang 021-51595902
Yang Xu 021-51666760

Mengqi Xu 021-20707868