Aekyung Chemical is showing strong performance. Recently, as electric vehicle battery fires have continued, interest in Sodium Ion Batteries (Sodium Ion Battery·SIB) has been growing. Sodium ion batteries have higher electrical and chemical stability and use non-flammable electrolytes, making them relatively safer from fires compared to lithium-ion batteries. While solid-state battery-related stocks, including Isu Specialty Chemical, have surged, interest is expanding toward sodium ion batteries.
As of 1:50 PM on the 20th, Aekyung Chemical is trading at 10,940 KRW, up 7.25% from the previous day.
According to the report "Sodium Ion Battery (SiB) Technology Development Trends and Market Outlook" published by SNE Research, it is forecasted that the market will reach 19 trillion KRW annually by 2035, driven by its low cost.
Sodium ion batteries are next-generation batteries that have price competitiveness compared to lithium-ion batteries. These batteries use sodium as the raw material; although their energy density is lower, they have high electrochemical stability and do not suffer significant performance degradation at low temperatures. Full-scale mass production is expected to begin in 2025, with applications in industries such as two-wheelers, small electric vehicles, and energy storage systems (ESS).
Due to their low energy density, commercialization had been limited, but as materials and technology have gradually advanced, energy density has improved. Their inherent low-temperature characteristics and stability have highlighted them as next-generation batteries. Sodium is easier to obtain than lithium, offering higher price competitiveness and lower fire risk, making it more suitable as a battery raw material.
As expectations for the commercialization of sodium ion batteries grow, interest is also increasing in hard carbon, an essential material for the anode of sodium ion batteries. Because sodium ions have larger particle sizes than lithium ions, hard carbon, which has a larger interlayer distance than graphite commonly used in lithium-ion batteries, is suitable as an anode material.
Attention is focused on Aekyung Chemical, which is the only company in Korea with development capabilities and mass production of hard carbon products. Aekyung Chemical has succeeded in producing high-performance products at its mass production facility for hard carbon anode materials for SIB. Preparations for mass production are also complete. Since 2012, Aekyung Chemical has been developing and mass-producing hard carbon for secondary battery anodes and has operated a separate research organization for developing high-performance hard carbon for SIB since 2022.
Aekyung Chemical stated that the developed hard carbon exhibits world-class performance in discharge capacity and efficiency.
Efforts to commercialize sodium ion batteries are also active overseas. Natron Energy, which operates the first commercial-scale sodium ion battery factory in the United States, recently decided to invest $1.4 billion (approximately 1.9 trillion KRW) in a new plant in North Carolina.
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