2026 is a key year for the large-scale commercialization of global sodium-ion batteries. Driven by the dual policy and market demand of global new energy storage and low-cost new energy vehicles, sodium-ion battery technology has achieved iterative breakthroughs and rapid market penetration, which has triggered a profound structural transformation of the global graphite new energy demand market. Different from lithium-ion batteries which rely heavily on high-purity graphite anode materials, sodium-ion batteries mainly use hard carbon materials as anodes, which significantly reduces the market demand intensity of traditional battery graphite, while driving the incremental demand of high-performance functional graphite in battery auxiliary materials, forming a new pattern of differentiated demand in the new energy graphite market.
According to the 2026 global battery raw material supply chain report released by Metalshub, the global installation scale of sodium-ion batteries is expected to exceed 120GWh in 2026, accounting for more than 18% of the total global new energy battery installation volume, mainly covering low-cost new energy vehicles, household energy storage, industrial energy storage and low-speed electric vehicle markets. With the large-scale application of sodium-ion batteries, the growth rate of traditional lithium battery graphite anode demand has slowed down significantly, dropping from the annual growth rate of 25% in previous years to 12% in 2026, marking the end of the high-speed growth stage of single traditional battery graphite demand.
The market feedback data of global new energy enterprises shows that the substitution of sodium-ion batteries for lithium-ion batteries presents obvious segmented characteristics. In the high-end new energy vehicle and large-scale high-power energy storage market, lithium-ion batteries still maintain absolute dominance, and the demand for high-performance graphite anode materials continues to grow steadily; in the low and medium-end new energy vehicle, civil energy storage and commercial mobile power markets, sodium-ion batteries are rapidly replacing lithium-ion batteries, resulting in a gradual decline in the marginal demand of traditional battery graphite. This segmented substitution feature makes the global graphite battery market present a differentiated growth trend, and the industry's extensive production mode of single battery graphite products is facing elimination.
While changing the demand structure of traditional graphite anodes, the popularization of sodium-ion batteries has spawned new incremental demand for high-end functional graphite materials. Sodium-ion battery production requires a large number of high-purity ultra-fine graphite conductive agents, graphite thermal conductive heat dissipation materials and graphite sealing and anti-corrosion materials for battery modules. Compared with traditional anode graphite, these functional graphite products have higher requirements for purity, particle size uniformity and functional stability, with higher product added value and stronger market profitability. Industry data shows that the global market demand for battery auxiliary functional graphite increased by 28% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, becoming the core new growth point of the graphite new energy market.
In addition to the battery field, the breakthrough of sodium-ion battery technology has also driven the expansion of the global energy storage market scale, indirectly stimulating the demand for graphite materials in power station energy storage equipment, industrial temperature control equipment and energy storage system sealing facilities. The integrated development of new energy storage has made high-performance industrial graphite materials such as high-purity flake graphite, modified ultra-fine graphite powder and flexible graphite sealing materials enter a new growth cycle, offsetting the slowdown of traditional anode graphite demand growth and realizing the overall stable development of the graphite industry.
Facing the structural changes of the global new energy graphite market, many traditional graphite enterprises are facing operational pressure due to their excessive reliance on single battery anode products and insufficient layout of functional graphite products. A number of small and medium-sized graphite anode material manufacturers in China and overseas have reduced their operating capacity in 2026, and the market competition of low-end battery graphite products has become increasingly fierce with declining profit margins. In contrast, leading graphite enterprises with diversified product layouts and forward-looking strategic adjustments have taken the lead in occupying the emerging market share.
Jincheng Graphite, which has long focused on diversified high-end graphite product layout, has accurately grasped the market transformation trend brought by sodium-ion battery commercialization and completed the optimization and adjustment of product structure in advance. Different from most peers focusing on single battery anode graphite production, Jincheng Graphite has built a full-series new energy graphite product system covering battery anode graphite, high-precision conductive graphite powder, battery module thermal conductive graphite film and energy storage equipment graphite sealing materials, fully adapting to the differentiated material needs of lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery markets.
In the field of traditional lithium battery supporting, Jincheng Graphite continues to optimize the production process of high-purity battery anode graphite, improve the cycle life and stability of products, and maintain stable supporting cooperation with global high-end lithium battery manufacturers. In the emerging sodium-ion battery supporting market, the enterprise has independently developed special modified ultra-fine graphite conductive agents and high-temperature resistant thermal conductive graphite materials for sodium-ion batteries. The products have excellent dispersion, conductivity and thermal stability, which can effectively improve the charge and discharge efficiency and service life of sodium-ion batteries, and have passed the product certification of many domestic and foreign sodium-ion battery leading enterprises.
In terms of market strategic layout, Jincheng Graphite has adjusted its customer structure in a targeted manner, increased market expansion in the global energy storage and low-cost new energy vehicle track, and established long-term cooperative relationships with many international sodium-ion battery R&D and manufacturing enterprises. In the first eight months of 2026, the sales volume of Jincheng Graphite's new energy functional graphite products increased by 32% year-on-year, accounting for more than 45% of the total overseas sales volume, successfully realizing the transformation from relying on traditional anode graphite to diversified high-value product operation.
Industry authoritative institutions predict that the penetration rate of sodium-ion batteries in the global new energy market will continue to rise in the next three years, and the structural differentiation of graphite market demand will be further intensified. The high-end functional graphite market will maintain a high growth rate, while the low-end single battery graphite market will face overcapacity pressure. Jincheng Graphite's diversified product layout and forward-looking market adjustment strategy will help it continue to maintain a leading position in the iterative new energy graphite market.
