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anode players announce $3.9 billion for synthetic graphite projects","chinas-anode-players-announce-3-9-billion-for-synthetic-graphite-projects","article/chinas-anode-players-announce-3-9-billion-for-synthetic-graphite-projects",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":702,"featured":51,"reporter":703,"_editable":707,"component":708,"seo_title":553,"categories":709,"visibility":715,"author_company":49,"featured_image":716,"seo_description":702,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":721,"formattedArticleDate":722},"b33a1b96-bbf2-4f2c-93e3-d979bf3dff34","2022-06-09 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,590,595,610,615,620,627,632,637,642,647,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,687,692,697],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"Chinese battery anode companies announced plans for over $3.9 billion of investment in synthetic graphite projects in May, as they look to integrate their supply chains and reduce costs.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"The announcements include a new project in Sichuan province, south-west China, where operations can be powered by renewable energy, helping to reduce the carbon intensity of synthetic graphite, which accounts for a high proportion of a battery’s footprint. ",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":579},"The graphitisation process can account for up to half the cost of producing synthetic graphite anodes for electric vehicle batteries, but so far much of the process has been concentrated in Inner Mongolia, where most of the electricity comes from coal. ",{"type":574,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":579},"By moving the graphitisation in-house, anode producers can have greater control and can situate themselves in places with cleaner energy, according to Maynie Yang, an analyst at Benchmark. ",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598,600,608],{"text":599,"type":579},"Last month Shinzoom’s investment of 2.5 billion RMB ($368 million) on a 100,000 tonne integrated synthetic graphite anode project in ",{"text":601,"type":579,"marks":602},"Sichuan Province, where there are abundant sources of hydropower",[603],{"type":604,"attrs":605},"link",{"href":606,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":607},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/chinas-anode-majors-shift-to-sichuan-in-clean-energy-push","url",{"text":609,"type":579},".",{"type":574,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":579},"Recently tier 1 anode producer BTR completed construction of an integrated synthetic graphite anode production facility in the region in under a year. Over the past 18 months several tier 1 anode producers have also announced plans to develop operations in Sichuan.",{"type":574,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":579},"“The major anode producers are trying to build up in-house graphitisation capacity to reduce costs,” Yang said. ",{"type":621,"attrs":622,"content":624},"heading",{"level":623,"textAlign":49},4,[625],{"text":626,"type":579},"New entrants",{"type":574,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":579},"The announcements come as producers anticipate growing downstream demand for synthetic graphite anodes as lockdown restrictions in China ease. China is also looking to further cement its dominance in the area.",{"type":574,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":579},"“Local government support is really encouraging new entrants,” Yang said, “they want to attract new anode projects.”",{"type":574,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":579},"The biggest announcement from a new entrant was 12 billion RMB ($1.8 billion) by Haichuang Shangwei New Energy for a project with a first phase capacity of 40,000 tonnes of anode per year. Haichuang Shangwei New Energy is a joint venture company formed by Sunway, a cable company, in partnership with Chinese cement producer Conch Venture.",{"type":574,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":579},"It can be relatively expensive for new players to enter the market. “Typically we are seeing lower capex from existing producers who are expanding compared to new market entrants who are wanting to build a new production base from scratch,” Yang said.",{"type":574,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":579},"However, some of the new entrants are leveraging their existing business connections. Sunstone and Baowu previously made synthetic graphite electrodes for the steel industry, so they can “transfer existing knowledge into producing anode.”",{"type":574,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":579},"With the cost of pet needle coke, a key raw material in synthetic graphite production, rising owing to uncertainties caused by fluctuating petroleum prices, the companies may be able to maximise on their “existing relationships with coke suppliers to help them with their feedstock prices,” Yang said.",{"type":621,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"level":623,"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":579},"In-house graphitisation",{"type":574,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":579},"Yang notes that there has yet to be a successful case of a company transitioning from producing synthetic graphite electrodes for the steel industry into producing anodes, however. But some companies have brought graphitisation, the process of creating synthetic graphite from feedstock, capacity online which typically begins before anode production capacity is brought online.",{"type":574,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":579},"“Graphitisation has been one of the major production bottlenecks for anode producers,” Yang said.",{"type":621,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"level":623,"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":579},"Progress slow outside of China",{"type":574,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":579},"In total, 97% of existing synthetic graphite anode production is located in China, as assessed by Benchmark’s Anode Assessment. This is unlikely to change in the short term as 99% of synthetic anode capacity under construction and 92% being planned is also located in China.",{"type":574,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":579},"“We are seeing very few overseas synthetic graphite anode projects,” Yang said.",{"type":574,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690],{"text":691,"type":579},"One of the few non-Chinese companies with plans to enter the synthetic graphite anode market is the Korean steel-giant POSCO. They recently announced a $242-323 million plan to develop a synthetic graphite facility in the USA, hoping to take advantage of the underdeveloped anode value chain in the region.",{"type":574,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695],{"text":696,"type":579},"The company has previously been focussed on natural graphite anodes. “The latest announcement is to help diversify,” Yang said.",{"type":574,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":579},"Over 70% of anode capacity outside of China is for natural graphite, as assessed by Benchmark’s Anode Assessment. “If more anode capacity is brought on outside of China we may see a slightly higher proportion of natural graphite anodes,” Yang said.","Chinese battery anode companies announced plans for over $3.9 billion of investment in synthetic graphite projects in May, as they look to integrate their supply chains and reduce costs. The announcements include a new project in Sichuan province, south-west China, where operations can be powered by renewable energy, helping to reduce the carbon intensity of […]",[704],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":705},{"job_title":565,"image":706,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"b33a1b96-bbf2-4f2c-93e3-d979bf3dff34\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[710,712],{"slug":711,"name":265},"anode",{"slug":713,"name":714},"batteries","Batteries","private",{"id":49,"alt":717,"name":717,"focus":717,"title":717,"source":717,"filename":718,"copyright":717,"fieldtype":719,"meta_data":720,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/fa49e50fd7/bm-shutterstock-1462093823.jpg","asset",{"alt":717,"title":717,"source":717,"copyright":717},"Jun 09, 2022","9th June 2022",[],[],1789982591734]