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production","chinas-energy-crisis-hits-domestic-cathode-and-anode-production","article/chinas-energy-crisis-hits-domestic-cathode-and-anode-production",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":635,"featured":50,"reporter":636,"_editable":640,"component":641,"seo_title":543,"categories":642,"visibility":650,"author_company":49,"featured_image":651,"seo_description":635,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":656,"formattedArticleDate":657},"9f93c1e6-d3ad-4776-89e4-f7b365aedd7a","2021-10-22 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"china","China",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":560},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,573,578,583,588,593,598,603,608,615,620,625,630],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570],{"text":571,"type":572},"China’s ongoing energy shortage, which has seen local governments enforce intermittent power cuts since July 2021, has begun to affect domestic anode and cathode production as several producers were forced to scale back production in late Q3.","text",{"type":567,"attrs":574,"content":575},{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":572},"Hunan and Inner Mongolia are among the most affected areas of the battery supply chain, with the former a production hub for cathodes and the latter a hub for synthetic graphite anode graphitisation processing.",{"type":567,"attrs":579,"content":580},{"textAlign":49},[581],{"text":582,"type":572},"Restrictions in Inner Mongolia have exacerbated graphitisation capacity constraints, which began in early 2021, driving up synthetic anode production costs.",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"Outside of the most affected regions, flake graphite production in Heilongjiang province has also been impacted as producers faced difficulties using some equipment, pushing up production costs for natural graphite anode feedstock.",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"Despite the restrictions Benchmark estimates less than 20% of overall anode market capacity has been affected.  While 20% represents a sizeable proportion of companies along the entire anode supply chain, the impact of energy shortages is yet to be fully realised, as production costs continue to rise under uncertainties surrounding government policy and coal supply.",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":572},"Cathode production has also been hit with Benchmark receiving reports that in Hunan and Jiangsu provinces several precursor and cathode producers were forced to cut production by between 50-70% from mid-September.",{"type":567,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":572},"In the cathode sector, the energy restrictions contributed to a fall in Chinese capacity utilisation rates, with the two provinces home to a large number of mid-stream producers.",{"type":567,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":572},"Benchmark understands that due to the energy crisis, cathode and precursor suppliers are holding off accepting new orders from customers, with only paid orders currently being delivered.",{"type":609,"attrs":610,"content":612},"heading",{"level":611,"textAlign":49},4,[613],{"text":614,"type":572},"No immediate fix",{"type":567,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":572},"The country’s trade war with Australia, which has coincided with industrial expansions this year, has led to a coal shortage, which fuels much of China’s electricity supply.",{"type":567,"attrs":621,"content":622},{"textAlign":49},[623],{"text":624,"type":572},"During China’s National Energy Commission meeting in mid-October, Premier Keqiang Li emphasised that extreme electricity cuts need to be corrected to ensure that the northern regions have secure usage of electricity for the winter, signifying that electricity restrictions within China might be relaxed at some stage in Q4.",{"type":567,"attrs":626,"content":627},{"textAlign":49},[628],{"text":629,"type":572},"In the long-term, China seeks to guarantee resource security by addressing the structural issues behind the current electricity supply shortage. The government is pushing for an upgrade in coal-powered electricity infrastructure, diversification of energy sources, and mass adoption of energy storage technologies.",{"type":567,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":572},"There is not currently widespread concern that these energy restrictions will have a dramatic impact on the overall production of battery materials in the country. However, this is another pressure on a supply chain already facing rising raw material costs.","China’s ongoing energy shortage, which has seen local governments enforce intermittent power cuts since July 2021, has begun to affect domestic anode and cathode production as several producers were forced to scale back production in late Q3. Hunan and Inner Mongolia are among the most affected areas of the battery supply chain, with the former […]",[637],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":638},{"job_title":558,"image":639,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"9f93c1e6-d3ad-4776-89e4-f7b365aedd7a\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[643,645,648],{"slug":644,"name":261},"anode",{"slug":646,"name":647},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":649,"name":298},"cathode","private",{"id":49,"alt":652,"name":652,"focus":652,"title":652,"source":652,"filename":653,"copyright":652,"fieldtype":654,"meta_data":655,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/6b02f8590b/bm-china-power-plant.jpg","asset",{"alt":652,"title":652,"source":652,"copyright":652},"Oct 22, 2021","22nd October 2021",[],[],1781512954845]