[Click eStock] "Nano신소재, Increased Scale of CNT Conductive Material Expansion for Secondary Batteries... Target Price '↑'"

Hi Investment & Securities forecasted on the 29th that the mid- to long-term production capacity expansion scale of CNT conductive additives for secondary batteries by Nano신소재 is expected to be larger than previously anticipated. The investment opinion was maintained as "Buy," and the target stock price was raised to 250,000 KRW.

Jeong Won-seok, a researcher at Hi Investment & Securities, stated, "The CNT conductive additive capacity of Nano신소재 is expected to expand to 13,000 tons in 2023, 31,000 tons in 2024, 52,000 tons in 2025, and 80,000 tons in 2026," adding, "This figure is an upward revision from the capacity forecast that was adjusted once in the previous report." He further explained, "This is due to the rapid increase in demand for CNT conductive additives for cathode and anode materials from battery cell customers who are striving to improve battery performance."

In particular, Jeong analyzed that the increase in production volume is due to high demand from customers. He said, "Despite the relatively short expansion period of about 3 to 4 months for Nano신소재's CNT conductive additive production facilities, the large mid- to long-term capacity expansion plan indicates that the demand visibility from customers is quite high," emphasizing, "Based on this, Nano신소재's CNT conductive additive sales are expected to increase significantly from 48.8 billion KRW in 2023 to 756 billion KRW in 2026."

He added, "Major automakers and battery cell companies are expected to expand the application of silicon anode materials around 2024 to shorten charging times and improve energy density," noting, "At that time, the use of CNT conductive additives is essential to enhance electron mobility in the anode and stabilize the expansion of silicon particles."

He continued, "On the cathode side as well, demand is rapidly increasing to replace conductive additives from conventional carbon black to CNT to improve the efficiency of high-nickel cathode materials," emphasizing, "Due to the high technical difficulty of aqueous-dispersed CNT conductive additives for anode materials, Nano신소재 is currently the only company worldwide capable of mass production, and thus is expected to fully benefit."