Another new energy concept company on the GEM withdrew its IPO.
Huaxia Energy Network learned that recently, the steel leader Baosteel Co., Ltd. (SH: 600019) announced that based on the current market environment and other factors, it will terminate the spin-off of its subsidiary Baowu Carbon Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Baowu Carbon") to be listed on the GEM of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Baosteel Co., Ltd. is currently the largest listed steel company in China in terms of market capitalization and net profit (as of the end of the first quarter of 2024), and is the largest shareholder of Baowu Carbon Industry, holding 71.78% of the shares. As early as November 2021, the company launched the spin-off and listing plan of Baowu Carbon, submitted a prospectus to the GEM of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in June 2022, and passed the meeting in August of the following year. In March this year, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange suspended the review of its listing application due to the expiration of financial information.
After nearly three years of preparation, the final one was empty. It is worth mentioning that Baowu Carbon also plans to raise 2 billion yuan to invest in the construction of an anode material project. And with the failure of the spin-off and listing plan, the fundraising plan will also fall through.
Capital environment: the decline in performance is difficult to pass the IPO pass
With the tightening of supervision, a number of companies planning to spin off and list have withdrawn their IPOs in the past six months this year. According to data from Oriental Wealth Choice, since 2024, 16 A-share listed companies, including Jiangxi Copper (SH:600362) and SAIC Motor (SH:600104), have terminated their plans to spin off and list (compared with only 15 in 2023).
The capital market environment is the first factor, and 2024 will enter the IPO winter. As of mid-June, more than 200 IPOs have been terminated during the year. According to statistics, in the three major capital markets of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Beijing Stock Exchange, in the first quarter of this year, the energy storage industry chain companies turned out to be "zero acceptance" and "zero meeting".
Baowu Carbon is a "rookie" in the fast-growing energy storage industry.
Starting from 2022, the energy storage industry has entered a state of "savage" development, driven by favorable policies and market demand, a large influx of capital, hoping to mature the IPO in the shortest possible time. However, since the second half of 2023, the energy storage industry has suddenly cooled, and the IPOs of related companies have been seriously blocked, or even terminated. A number of well-known emerging enterprises, such as Honeycomb Energy, ZTE New Materials, Pinsheng Electronics, Shuangdeng Shares, etc., have not been spared.
In the face of stricter supervision and review, some companies planning to IPO choose to withdraw their applications voluntarily in order to escape many "soul tortures", such as industry status, performance scale, core technology and process, industry development trends, business stability, etc., especially the ability to make sustainable profits is enough to make many companies retreat.
Huaxia Energy Network noted that since 2023, enterprises in the entire energy storage industry chain, including the anode material industry, have faced varying degrees of performance pressure.
According to the data, in 2023, Shanshan Co., Ltd. (SH: 600884) revenue will decrease by 12.13% year-on-year, and net profit will decrease by 71.56%; In the first quarter of this year, while revenue fell by 15.67% year-on-year, net profit also lost 73 million yuan, turning from profit to loss year-on-year. beiteri (BJ: 835185) operating income will decrease by 2.18% and net profit will decrease by 28.42% in 2023; In the first quarter of this year, total operating income fell by 47.84% and net profit decreased by 25.52%. PTL (SH:603659) 2023 operating income decreased by 0.80%, net profit decreased by 38.42%; In the first quarter of this year, revenue decreased by 17.97%; Net profit decreased by 36.64%.
The above are the top three manufacturers in the industry in terms of shipments, and the survival of other second- and third-tier enterprises can be imagined. In 2023, Baowu Carbon's performance will also decline sharply. The annual revenue was 13 billion yuan and the net profit was 170 million yuan, down 14% and 66% year-on-year respectively.
Baowu Carbon has long expected the decline in performance, and it has said in its profit forecast in the prospectus that in the first half of 2023, affected by the decline in demand from the downstream automobile and lithium battery industries, the annual operating performance will decline compared with the same period in 2022.
Industry reality: the faucet is squeezed, and there is not much room for profit improvement
The anode material market in 2024 is also at a turning point.
In April and early June this year, BYD, the battery leader, launched two rounds of bidding for anode materials, and the bidding prices rose by about 10%-15% and 10% respectively. The main reason for the price increase is that the price of bidding orders in the first quarter of 2023 is too low, and enterprises are facing loss-making production, and most orders are difficult to execute.
The data shows that in January 2023, the reference price of the domestic anode material market was about 5,300 yuan/ton, and by January this year, it fell to about 3,500 yuan/ton, especially the price of finished products of low-end anode materials even fell below the cost line. This is also the reason why the performance of anode material manufacturers, including Shanshan Co., Ltd., Beiteri, Putailai, etc., has declined sharply or even lost money.
Some industry insiders believe that BYD's two increases in procurement prices can boost the performance of anode material manufacturers, and the anode material industry will also usher in an improvement. However, judging from the market share and production capacity data, for most anode manufacturers such as Baowu Carbon, the boost has little impact.
On the one hand, the market concentration is too high. In terms of anode material market concentration, from 2021 to 2023, CR3 will always account for about 50%, CR6 will always account for about 75%, once close to 80%, and the market concentration will further increase.
According to incomplete statistics from Gaogong Lithium Battery (GGII), by the end of 2023, there will be more than 90 enterprises in the production of anodes, which means that more than 80 companies will compete for about 20% of the market share, and the intensity can be imagined.
On the other hand, capacity expansion is accompanied by contraction and shutdown.
According to the "2023 Annual Board of Directors Business Review of Zhiyuan New Energy", in 2023, the average capacity utilization rate of the entire industry will be less than 50%, and most enterprises will face production shutdown when they are put into production. Since the beginning of last year, a number of companies, including Zhongyuan (SH: 300018), Shangtai Technology (SZ: 001301), and Yicheng New Energy (SZ: 300080), have terminated or stopped production of some anode material projects. However, there are still companies that have made the opposite decision, and industry leaders such as Putailai and Shanshan have issued expansion plans in order to seize more market space.
The competitive pattern with high market concentration and the superposition of leading players to expand production and squeeze the market make the living space of second- and third-tier small and medium-sized players narrower and narrower. It is foreseeable that the wave of shutdowns of anode material projects will continue in the future.
In the future, the way out to break through the involution of the industry and break the monopoly of the leader will depend on accelerating the iteration of technology and seizing a new window of competition with new technologies. The anode material industry is no exception.
(Please indicate the source for reprinting, article source: Huaxia Energy Network, WeChat ID: hxny3060)