On December 11, the Star Daily reported (by reporter Yu Jiaxin) that the lithium battery anode material industry has achieved a new breakthrough in technology.

Recently, Hebei Kuntian New Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Kuntian New Energy) announced a new continuous graphite furnace process. At the press conference, reporters from the Star Daily entered the company's continuous graphite furnace production line, which is 280 meters long.

Kuntian New Energy was established in May 2018, and its predecessor, Huaiyang Carbon Co., Ltd., was founded in 2000. It is a manufacturer and developer of lithium-ion battery anode materials, primarily engaged in the research, production, and sales of artificial graphite products for lithium-ion batteries.

Many companies are researching continuous graphite sintering technology, but very few have truly pushed it to the mass production stage. If mass production is achieved, it will directly drive cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the industry. This is good news for the currently competitive lithium battery industry, but the overall level of mass production still needs to be evaluated," said a researcher from a battery manufacturer at the press conference to reporters from the Star Daily.

▍ Continuous graphite sintering process is expected to enter mass production next year.

It is understood that the graphite sintering process can be divided into intermittent production and continuous production based on production continuity. Continuous graphite sintering generally refers to a process where there is no power cut during production, and the graphite product needs to go through a series of temperature zones to achieve continuous sintering. Continuous graphite sintering has advantages in energy consumption, efficiency, and cost, and is widely regarded as a future direction for innovation in the industry.

However, overall, the continuous graphite sintering process still faces many challenges in moving towards mass production. "Because there needs to be a temperature zone at 3000 °C, this requires the refractory materials of the furnace body to have a high refractoriness. At the same time, the choice of sealing materials and how to quickly cool the products are key factors," an industry insider in the lithium battery sector told reporters from the Star Daily.

Kuntian New Energy stated, "Compared to other main materials and Cells, Anode Material is the only sector with ultra-high energy consumption and has not achieved continuous production. When the evolution of materials approaches the theoretical limit, process iteration is an important way to solve the above issues, especially in the process iteration on graphitization."

"The ultimate form of graphitization is continuous graphitization, which essentially aims to reduce energy consumption, shorten time cycles, and improve product quality. However, due to unresolved issues such as inadequate temperature, frequent shutdowns for maintenance, and difficulty in sealing, the industry has seen stagnation in process iteration in this area for many years," it stated.

It is reported that Kuntian New Energy has developed a continuous graphitization process that shortens the production cycle to 10-12 days; manual resource allocation reduced by more than 50%; and auxiliary material consumption decreased by 50%.

Song Zhitao, Chairman of Kuntian New Energy, stated in an interview with the 'Star Daily' that this process has reached the mainstream product mass supply level and will enter formal mass production next year.

It is understood that Kuntian New Energy established Yunnan Kuntian in 2022, with a total project plan of 0.2 million tons. Yunnan Kuntian achieved the production launch of phase one, 0.04 million tons, in February 2023. The company stated, "It is expected that the continuous graphitization new technology will be used in the second phase of construction in Yunnan, combined with the box furnace technology production process, which is expected to make the company's delivery cycle more flexible."

At the same time, Song Zhitao informed the 'Star Daily' that the company has started on the second-generation continuous graphitization process, expecting to release the second-generation product next year. "The second-generation product achieves a consistency of positive and negative 1, with energy consumption reduced by an additional 10% compared to the previous generation, and the production cycle shortened to 7 days."

▍With technology reserves in Solid State Battery, eVTOL, etc., will layout Southeast Asian market.

As a major manufacturer of artificial graphite for lithium battery Anode Material, Kuntian New Energy is also expanding product application scenarios and market segments.

Currently, Kuntian New Energy products have established partnerships with leading battery manufacturers such as Eve Energy Co.,Ltd., Sunwoda Electronic, Hive Energy, Gotion High-tech, Do-Fluoride New Materials, Ruipu, and Penghui. The company's chairman, Song Zhitao, stated, "Currently, the company's overall production capacity is nearly fully sold and produced, with shipments exceeding 0.01 million tons every month."

Regarding new customers, Song Zhitao told the Star Daily reporter that its integration work for a leading domestic automotive company has been completed for 2024, and "bulk supply will begin in January to February next year."

At the press conference, Song Fan, the head of product research and development at Kuntian New Energy Research Institute, stated that the company has also launched products such as 4C/6C fast charge Anode Material, ultra-high energy density storage Anode Material, and a new SKT silicon-carbon Anode Material.

In terms of related progress, it was mentioned, "As for silicon-carbon materials, our overseas clients have completed three evaluations, and small batch shipments are expected in the second half of next year."

Regarding the recently popular Solid State Battery concept, Song Zhitao stated: "Due to the different processes and equipment, along with high costs, there are currently no plans for mass production, but the company is working on its layout. At the same time, the company has also made some basic preparations in the low-altitude economy field."

In terms of application scenarios, Song Zhitao told the Star Daily reporter that the company's main products are currently used in Electric Vehicles and energy storage, and they are also planning to enter the Consumer Battery market, with consumer income accounting for about 10%.

Regarding overseas expansion, Song Zhitao stated that overseas income still accounts for a small percentage, and there is a high likelihood of considering expansion into the Southeast Asian market. On one hand, this will happen alongside Chinese battery manufacturers going overseas for supporting partnerships, and on the other hand, it will involve collaboration with overseas clients.