Coated asphalt has excellent performance and good industry development prospects

Coated asphalt is a special asphalt material. After carbonization, an amorphous carbon coating is obtained, which can modify defects in the graphite structure, reduce the electrochemical irreversible capacity of the material, and improve its cycle performance. Coated asphalt has the advantages of good electrical insulation properties, heat resistance, and light resistance, and is widely used in negative electrode materials and pitch-based carbon fiber products.

The upstream of the coated asphalt industry chain supplies raw materials, with petroleum asphalt as its main raw material. As the operating rate of asphalt installations continues to decline, the supply of petroleum asphalt in my country has decreased. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s petroleum asphalt production reached 55.517 million tons in 2021, a cumulative decrease of 11.5%. At the same time, affected by factors such as the declining prosperity of the coal tar industry, my country’s coal pitch production has shown a fluctuating downward trend. According to the “2022-2027 Coated Asphalt Industry Market In-depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Analysis Report released by the Industrial Research Center, The application penetration rate of coated asphalt in my country is low, so fluctuations in raw material output have little impact on the industry. In 2021, my country’s coated asphalt output will reach 89,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 97.6%.

The preparation methods of coated asphalt include heat condensation method, air oxidation method, oxidative cross-linking method and vacuum flash evaporation method. Thermal condensation method refers to mixing coal pitch and stabilizer in a nitrogen-filled protective environment, causing a polymerization reaction through heating, and then going through extraction, separation, drying and other processes to produce coated pitch. The oxidative cross-linking method requires first mixing coal pitch with an extraction agent, then standing, separating, and distilling to obtain refined medium-temperature asphalt, which is then placed in an oxidative cross-linking reactor for oxidation, and finally high-quality coated asphalt is produced.

The field of lithium-ion battery anode materials is the largest demand end for coated asphalt, accounting for 80.0% of the demand. The negative electrode material is one of the four key materials for lithium-ion batteries and plays a decisive role in battery performance, service life, safety, etc. Benefiting from the continuous expansion of the new energy vehicle market, shipments of lithium-ion battery anode materials continue to grow. In 2021, my country’s lithium-ion battery anode material shipments reached 746,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 98.5%. The rapid development of downstream industries has driven the demand for coated asphalt to continue to increase. In 2021, my country’s demand for coated asphalt will reach 84,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 101.6%.

In terms of market competition, due to factors such as high technical barriers, there are few coated asphalt manufacturers in my country, including Liaoning Runxing, Liaoning Aoyida, Xinjiang China Carbon, Xinde New Materials, etc. Xinde New Materials is my country’s largest supplier of coated asphalt.

Industry analysts said that coated asphalt has excellent performance and is widely used in carbon fiber products and lithium-ion batteries. Under the influence of positive factors such as rapid economic development, my country’s coated asphalt market demand will continue to be released, and the industry’s development prospects will continue to improve. However, at present, my country’s coated asphalt market penetration rate is low and the industry concentration is not high. With continuous innovation in R&D and production technology, the scale of my country’s coated asphalt industry is expected to further increase.