Lithium Battery Anode Sector Shifts to High-Quality Growth, Driven by Capacity Optimization and Sodium-Ion Demand

Global lithium battery anode material production in 2025 reached approximately 3.1 million metric tons, up over 40% year-over-year, while sales hit 3.06 million metric tons, a 49% increase from the previous year. The industry forecasts that global demand for lithium-ion battery anode materials will surpass 3.8 million metric tons in 2026. Currently, capacity expansion across the sector is diverging: leading companies are accelerating integrated capacity construction backed by firm orders, while forward-looking projects lacking supporting infrastructure or disconnected from actual demand are being proactively terminated. In terms of specific projects, the Phase II of Erdos New Innovation Materials’ 80,000-ton-per-year integrated lithium battery anode material project has commenced construction, with a total investment of RMB 300 million and scheduled commissioning in June 2027; Phase I is already operational. Xiangfenghua plans to raise RMB 600 million to fund a RMB 1.36 billion project targeting annual production of 93,000 tons of lithium battery anode materials. Zhongke Electric has terminated several projects to concentrate resources on advancing its Yunnan and Sichuan bases to enhance operational efficiency. Meanwhile, Tiantie Technology has halted its Lujiang project to alleviate financial pressure. Since 2025, synchronized growth in demand from both power batteries and energy storage, coupled with accelerated commercialization of sodium-ion batteries, has driven both volume and prices of lithium battery anode materials upward. As of mid-June 2026, prices of mid-tier synthetic graphite anode materials have risen nearly 30% compared to earlier levels, with premium products also seeing price increases. Overall industry capacity utilization has rebounded to around 70%, exceeding 90% among major manufacturers, and some top-tier players are operating at full capacity. Concurrently, demand for hard carbon anodes used in sodium-ion batteries is rapidly expanding. The global hard carbon anode market for sodium-ion batteries is projected to exceed USD 400 million in 2026 and reach USD 1.05 billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34%. Companies across the supply chain are accelerating their strategic deployments: Suining Tian Na Energy’s production line is already operational, and firms such as China Baoan and Shaanxi Coal Jingjiu have also made notable progress. With ongoing process improvements and economies of scale taking effect, hard carbon anode costs continue to decline, opening new growth avenues for the anode materials industry.