This week, anode material prices remained stable [SMM Weekly Review of Lithium Battery Anode Market]

SMM May 22 News:

This week, the price of artificial graphite remained stable. Cost side, the price of graphitisation tolling services declined, while the price of raw material coke continued to drop due to weak downstream demand. Although costs decreased, the lag in production has not yet significantly impacted the price of artificial graphite. Supply and demand side, frequent adjustments to tariff policies have led to a wait-and-see sentiment among participants in the industry chain, suppressing market activity. Looking ahead, costs are expected to further decline slightly. Supply and demand side, during the 90-day waiting period after tariff policy adjustments, downstream enterprises may gradually release procurement demand to avoid potential cost increases. However, the supply side will remain ample. Therefore, the price of anode material is expected to show a downward trend.

This week, there were no significant changes in the cost or supply and demand sides of natural graphite, so the price of natural graphite anode material remained stable. Looking ahead, the technical gap between artificial graphite and natural graphite anode materials in terms of product performance and specifications continues to narrow, and artificial graphite, with its significant price advantage, has become the preferred procurement choice for downstream enterprises. Therefore, even if tariffs boost demand, the actual incremental demand for natural graphite anode material will remain limited. Additionally, the long-standing issue of overcapacity in the industry has not been fundamentally resolved, and the supply side will remain abundant. Under the combined influence of multiple factors, the price of natural graphite anode material is expected to continue facing downward pressure.

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

Xuejie Hu 021-20707858