[Market Focus] Aekyung Chemical Soars as Sodium-Ion Batteries Gain Attention

As of 10:10 a.m. on April 25, in the Korea Exchange, Aekyung Chemical was trading at 10,230 won, up 28.36% from the previous day's closing price. At one point during the session, it even hit the upper price limit of 10,360 won. This surge appears to be driven by growing attention to Aekyung Chemical, which is developing materials related to sodium-ion battery technology, as this technology has recently gained prominence in China and Russia.

Sodium-ion batteries use sodium, which can be easily extracted from seawater, instead of lithium, a rare mineral. Despite offering performance similar to conventional lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, sodium-ion batteries are emerging as the next-generation battery because their raw materials are much cheaper and more readily available.

Recently, CATL, the world's largest battery company based in China, unveiled its second-generation sodium-ion battery, "Naxtra," at a Tech Day event held ahead of the Shanghai Motor Show. The company also announced plans to begin mass production in December. By significantly increasing the driving range compared to the first-generation product released in 2021, CATL has made a strong impact on the market, addressing the previous weakness of sodium-ion batteries: short driving time.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin recently ordered his cabinet to submit a proposal outlining plans for the development and production of energy storage systems (ESS), and it is expected that sodium-ion battery technology will be a key focus in this proposal.

Korean battery companies, which previously suffered from low-priced competition from China, are also accelerating their efforts to secure sodium-ion battery technology. Notably, LG Energy Solution has set a goal to launch such batteries before 2030.

Aekyung Chemical, in preparation for the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries, launched hard carbon for anodes in 2012 and is now accelerating the commercialization of new products with higher discharge capacity and efficiency.

If the anode material is likened to a "tunnel," lithium ions are the size of "passenger cars," while sodium ions are the size of "trucks." Batteries charge and discharge as ions move back and forth between the cathode and the anode. Because lithium ions are smaller, they can easily travel through anodes made of graphite with narrow lattice spacing. In contrast, sodium ions are larger and require hard carbon, which has a wider tunnel-like lattice structure. For Aekyung Chemical's hard carbon, the goal is reportedly to reduce costs to a level similar to that of graphite anode materials.