interface news trainee reporter Gao Jing

Another Chinese lithium company announced a sea trip.

on September 27, cedar shares (600884.SH) announced that Shanghai cedar lithium battery materials technology co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as cedar technology), a subsidiary of the company, plans to set up a project company in Finland and invest in the construction of an integrated base project of negative electrode materials for lithium ion batteries with an annual output of 100000 tons. negative electrode materials are one of the four core main materials of lithium batteries.

The total planned investment of the project shall not exceed 1.28 billion euros (about 9.8 billion yuan), and the source of funds shall be self-owned funds and financing.

Shanshan Technology is the first domestic enterprise specializing in the research and development, production and sales of lithium-ion battery anode materials. The construction of the above-mentioned production base includes office buildings, production and production auxiliary workshops, etc. The construction will be divided into two phases, with a production capacity of 50000 tons/year for each phase, and the construction period is expected to be 24 months each.

Sugiyama has become the second Chinese enterprise to lay out a lithium-ion anode material factory in Europe after continuing to Pu Tailai (603659.SH).

in may this year, pu tailai (603659.SH) announced that it plans to invest in the establishment of zichen technology (Sweden) co., ltd. in Sweden to build an integrated production and research base project for negative electrode materials, with an annual production capacity of 100000 tons. The investment amount does not exceed 15.7 billion Swedish kronor (about 10.6 billion yuan). Upon completion, the project will become the largest lithium battery anode material factory in Europe, and European battery manufacturer Northvolt will become its first customer.

In terms of production capacity, Sugiyama shares are roughly the same as the European anode material plant, but the investment is slightly less.

The main products of Shanshan's negative electrode materials business are artificial graphite, natural graphite, silicon-based negative electrodes, hard carbon, etc. Xinmi information data show that in the first half of this year, the company's artificial graphite production accounted for the first place in the industry.

About half of the overall cost of negative materials is occupied by the graphitization process, and the cost of electricity for this process accounts for more than 60%.

According to Sugiyama, Nordic electricity is dominated by cheaper hydropower, biomass fuel and other green electricity, and the location of the project in Finland will help the company to take advantage of local low-cost clean energy.

In the 2023 semi-annual report, Shanshan shares once stated that in order to meet the needs of overseas markets, the company is actively exploring the layout of overseas production capacity.

the company has completed the strategic layout of production capacity of about 700000 tons of graphite anode materials, including three integrated bases with production capacity of 100000 tons, 200000 tons and 300000 tons in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and Yunnan.

in the first half of the year, cedar realized a revenue of 9.4 billion yuan and a net profit of 1 billion yuan, down 12.11 and 39.01 respectively year on year.

Shanshan said that in recent years, the production capacity of the anode material industry has expanded rapidly, resulting in a phased and structural overcapacity in the anode material industry in the first half of 2023, and market competition has intensified. In addition, the growth rate of domestic new energy vehicle sales has slowed down, and the demand for anode materials by downstream battery companies has declined.

Sugiyama said that after the completion of the Finnish project, it will help it improve its overseas production capacity layout and effectively meet the supporting needs of downstream customers and overseas market expansion needs.

In early 2023, the Council of the European Union approved a regulation to ban the sale of new fuel cars and minivans that cause carbon emissions from 2035. The regulations will play a strong role in promoting the development of local new energy vehicles.

However, the domestic lithium battery industry chain in Europe is far from being able to support the rapid growth of demand. According to statistics from Wang Zidong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, by 2028, the European power battery supply shortage will reach 378 GWh.

Faced with the gap in the European market, more and more Chinese companies are choosing to deploy in Europe. Up to now, there are Ningde era (300750.SZ), Guoxuan Gaoke (002074.SZ), Huayou Cobalt (603799.SH), long-term lithium (688779.SH) and other Chinese lithium-electric upstream and downstream enterprises in Europe to build factories.