Korea, China, Japan compete in bourgeoning silicon anode materials market

POSCO Future M logo [Courtesy of POSCO]

South Korea, China, and Japan are vying to develop and produce more silicon anode materials and carbon nanotubes amid growing demand for battery materials with improved performance.

According to multiple industry sources on Wednesday, Korea is putting out efforts to produce more anode materials, which currently has high dependency on China for sourcing. There are many cathode materials production companies in Korea but there are only a few anode materials producers, namely POSCO Future M and Daejoo Electronic Materials.

China accounted for 67.8 percent of the global supply capacity for anodes, followed by Japan (21.5 percent) and Korea (8 percent).

Demand for silicon anode materials is also growing amid a rise in demand for improved battery performance by global electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers.

Silicon anode materials have tenfold higher energy concentration than traditional graphite anodes, commonly used in lithium-ion batteries. EVs loaded with silicon anode materials can travel longer and have shorter charging times.

There are only three companies that can mass produce silicon anode materials - Korea’s Daejoo Electronic Materials, China’s BTR, and Japan’s Shin-Etsu Chemical - but more battery materials makers are making investments in research and development and production capacity for silicon anode materials.

Among Korean players, POSCO Future M plans to raise its silicon anode materials production capacity to 22,000 tons by 2030.

POSCO Silicon Solution Co., an affiliate of POSCO Holdings Inc., also decided to invest 300 billion won ($226.9 million) by 2025 to build a silicon anode materials plant with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons in an industrial complex in Pohang. POSCO Holdings acquired silicon anode developer Tera Technos in July last year and changed the name to POSCO Silicon Solution.

Chinese materials manufacturers are also rushing to expand their production capacity of silicon anode materials. BTR aims to raise its annual output to 45,000 tons in 2028, up from 20,000 tons this year and 5,000 tons last year. Ningbo Shanshan Co. also plans to produce 44,000 tons of silicon anode materials in 2025.

Other companies are catching up with the competition.

U.S. Tesla Inc. is planning to mass produce 4680-type battery cells that use silicon anode materials.

Volkswagen Group has already used silicon anodes in the production and will expand the use. Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution Ltd. and General Motors Co., will use silicon anode materials to produce batteries from next year.