Prices of artificial graphite anodes stabilize, while prices of natural graphite anodes face downward pressure [SMM Weekly Review of Lithium Battery Anode Market]

SMM News on July 10:

This week, the prices of artificial graphite anode materials stabilized. On the demand side, the small energy storage market saw a slight recovery, which, to a certain extent, offset the demand gap caused by the slowdown in production speed in the NEV market, resulting in relatively stable demand. The supply side remained abundant. On the cost side, the cost of anode raw materials stopped falling and rebounded, providing effective support for the prices of artificial graphite. Under the interplay of multiple factors, the prices of artificial graphite anode materials remained in a stalemate this week. Looking ahead, although the overcapacity situation is difficult to reverse in the short term, the prices of relevant raw materials are expected to continue stabilizing, which may support the prices of anode materials to remain stable in the short term.

This week, the prices of natural graphite anode materials continued to run smoothly. This stable pattern was mainly due to the collaborative support from both the supply-demand and cost sides. The process of technological innovation in artificial graphite anodes continued to accelerate, coupled with the gradual release and expansion of production capacity by vapor deposition silicon-carbon producers. Driven by the dual demands of cost reduction and performance upgrades, downstream customers' procurement preferences were gradually shifting towards alternative materials, which may squeeze the market demand space for natural graphite anodes. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the supply-demand pattern and technological iteration factors, it is expected that the prices of natural graphite anode materials will continue to face downward pressure.

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

Hu Xuejie 021-20707858