[SMM Analysis] Rising Demand and Falling Costs Lead to Increase in April Anode Material Production

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SMM News, May 7:

In April 2025, China's anode material production increased by 6% MoM and 21% YoY.

Cost side, the price of graphitisation tolling services remained stable amid the ongoing tug-of-war between supply-demand relationships and cost factors. The price of raw material coke, however, showed a downward trend due to weak anode procurement demand from traditional industries. Demand side, battery cell production reached 149 GWh in April, up 3% MoM. Against the backdrop of rising downstream demand and a slight decrease in production costs, anode material production increased MoM. However, as the decline in coke prices failed to fully offset the previous increase, the current production enthusiasm of anode enterprises has not yet reached the expected level.

Looking ahead to May, despite downstream battery cell enterprises planning to further increase their production schedules, the MoM growth rate of their production schedules is unlikely to surge significantly due to uncertainties such as tariffs, and is expected to remain at around 3%. Coke prices may continue to decline as shutdowns for maintenance come to an end. Against this backdrop, the production enthusiasm of anode enterprises may continue to rise. Based on comprehensive analysis, it is expected that China's anode material production will increase by 5% MoM and 22% YoY in May.

SMM New Energy Research Team

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

Xu Mengqi 021-20707868