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majors start 2021 on anode offensive","chinese-majors-start-2021-on-anode-offensive","article/chinese-majors-start-2021-on-anode-offensive",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":682,"featured":50,"reporter":683,"_editable":687,"component":688,"seo_title":553,"categories":689,"visibility":695,"author_company":49,"featured_image":696,"seo_description":682,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":701,"formattedArticleDate":702},"cf72d07e-fe77-44f9-a371-2588dee43096","2021-04-01 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":570},"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":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,583,588,593,608,613,618,623,635,640,645,652,657,662,667,672,677],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582},"China’s anode majors dramatically stepped up expansion plans in Q1 with billions of dollars of investment cementing Chinese dominance of the anode supply chain.","text",{"type":577,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":582},"BTR New Energy (BTR) and Putailai led the expansions, announcing plans to build 80,000 tpa and 200,000 tpa, respectively, of additional synthetic anode capacity.",{"type":577,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":582},"Putailai’s massive 200,000 tpa anode project will be established in Chengdu, Sichuan, through its wholly owned subsidiary Sichuan Zichen Technology. The first stage of the project is set to finish construction in 2023, with 100,000 tpa of capacity, ultimately reaching nameplate in 2025. Total investment into the project is reportedly RMB 8 billion ($1.2 billion).",{"type":577,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596,598,606],{"text":597,"type":582},"The 200,000 tpa operation represents 14% of planned global anode capacity placing the company at the top of ",{"text":599,"type":582,"marks":600},"Benchmark’s Anode Market Assessment",[601],{"type":602,"attrs":603},"link",{"href":604,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":605},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/contact/","url",{"text":607,"type":582}," based on its capacity in the pipeline. It is currently the world’s third largest producer behind fellow Chinese majors BTR New Energy and Shanshan.",{"type":577,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":582},"BTR New Energy (BTR), the leading producer by output in 2020, announced an 80,000 tpa expansion in early March which takes its anode capacity pipeline to 175,000 tpa, adding to the 93,000 tpa of primarily natural anode capacity the company currently operates",{"type":577,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":582},"BTR’s expansion was established through a joint venture with needle coke producer Shandong Jingyang Technology. The JV, in which BTR will hold a 55% share, is set to be located in Binzhou, Shandong province, will be vertically integrated with 120,000 tpa of needle coke capacity to feed the production 80,000 tpa of synthetic anode material. The project will ramp up in two stages, the first stage targeting production in Q1 2022, and will reportedly require RMB 3.68 billion ($550 million) of investment.",{"type":577,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":582},"This will be the first commercial-scale production line in the industry to integrate the value chain from needle coke to the finished anode product.",{"type":577,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626,628,633],{"text":627,"type":582},"BTR has no needle coke production itself, but Jingyang Techology’s expertise as a leading needle coke producer within China, with a capacity of 80,000 tpa, according to ",{"text":629,"type":582,"marks":630},"Benchmark’s Synthetic Graphite Forecast",[631],{"type":602,"attrs":632},{"href":604,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":605},{"text":634,"type":582},", will provide significant cost-advantages for production from the site.",{"type":577,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":582},"In January BTR also announced plans to purchase Sichuan Junbei Material, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yibin Jinshi New Material, and construct a 50,000 tpa high-end synthetic graphite anode facility for RMB 1.65bn ($250 million). Yibin Jinshi is a new entrant to the anode market but already has a 30,000 tpa anode facility under construction in Yibin, Sichuan.",{"type":577,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":582},"Sichuan province is becoming an integral domestic cluster in China’s lithium ion battery supply chain. The availability of natural resources, particularly relatively clean and cost-competitive sources of energy, a supportive labour market, strong infrastructure and rail links and supportive government policies have helped boost the province’s lithium ion credentials. Downstream capacity is also being developed in the province, with many of Putailai’s main customers, including CATL, establishing production in south west China.",{"type":646,"attrs":647,"content":649},"heading",{"level":648,"textAlign":49},4,[650],{"text":651,"type":582},"Surging demand driving expansions",{"type":577,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":582},"Surging electric vehicle (EV) demand for anode materials in China and Europe has supported anode majors’ recent domestic expansions. In 2020, total Chinese cell production increased by 27.1% y-o-y as a result of growing demand from a host of applications.",{"type":577,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":582},"While growing EV demand has given China’s anode majors confidence to further increase their capacity, these expansions also reflect an ongoing trend of these companies expanding to secure market share.",{"type":577,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":582},"On the back of low energy costs and abundant low-cost natural flake graphite, China’s anode producers have steadily gained market share, while South Korean and Japanese incumbents have failed to compete in terms of cost.",{"type":577,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":582},"These cost advantages have also led to a rapid expansion of more competitive synthetic graphite capacity in China, which has challenged established majors in Japan and Korea and swung the balance further in favour of synthetic graphite inputs.",{"type":577,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":582},"Although ex-China producers still typically maintain quality advantages over Chinese competitors, both in anode and graphite feedstock production, China’s supply chain dominance has put domestic producers in a dominant position.",{"type":577,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":582},"Today the bulk of anode production capacity – and the buildout of future capacity – is located in China. The move by Chinese anode majors to expand capacity and integrate production is an attempt to secure greater market share both domestically and in emerging EV markets. However, unlike their cathode counterparts, efforts by anode majors to collocate this capacity near to battery cell production facilities has been limited to date.","China’s anode majors dramatically stepped up expansion plans in Q1 with billions of dollars of investment cementing Chinese dominance of the anode supply chain. BTR New Energy (BTR) and Putailai led the expansions, announcing plans to build 80,000 tpa and 200,000 tpa, respectively, of additional synthetic anode capacity. Putailai’s massive 200,000 tpa anode project will […]",[684],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":685},{"job_title":568,"image":686,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"cf72d07e-fe77-44f9-a371-2588dee43096\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[690,692],{"slug":691,"name":265},"anode",{"slug":693,"name":694},"batteries","Batteries","private",{"id":49,"alt":697,"name":697,"focus":697,"title":697,"source":697,"filename":698,"copyright":697,"fieldtype":699,"meta_data":700,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/58e84e3397/bm-20200907095116-6333.jpg","asset",{"alt":697,"title":697,"source":697,"copyright":697},"Apr 01, 2021","1st April 2021",[],[],1789748871613]