Resources + Manufacturing + Recycling: Decoding the Full Lifecycle Strategy of Wanhua Chemical's Battery Materials

(Source: Jinghua Big Difference)

In March 2026, Wanhua Chemical completed two key strategic collaborations consecutively at the upstream resource end for battery materials. On March 23, Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. under the company reached an in-depth cooperation with Dazhong Mining, a listed mining company. According to the agreement, both parties will jointly invest to establish Sichuan Dazhong Heli Lithium Industry Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 300 million yuan, of which Dazhong Mining will hold 80% and Wanhua Chemical will hold 20%.

On the same day, the two parties signed a tripartite agreement with the Meishan High-tech Zone Administrative Committee, planning to invest in Meishan, Sichuan to build an “annual production of 200,000 tons of lithium salt project.” The project will be implemented in three phases: Phase 1 with 30,000 tons, Phase 2 with 70,000 tons, and with a total investment of 2.2 billion yuan. The Phase 3 capacity of 100,000 tons will be advanced in a rolling investment manner. After the project is completed, it will lock in demand for Wanhua Chemical’s battery materials lithium salt raw materials ahead of schedule, and close the full industrial-chain loop of “lithium mines–lithium salt–battery materials.”

On March 6, Wanhua Chemical and Xingfa Group, a leading enterprise in phosphate chemical industry, jointly invested to establish Hubei Huaxing New Energy Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 600 million yuan, with Wanhua Chemical holding 70% and Xingfa Group holding 30%. The joint venture is positioned as a full-chain enterprise for battery manufacturing, sales, technology research and development, and recycling utilization. On March 11, the company’s project for an annual production of 240,000 tons of iron phosphate (including supporting public-utility facilities) completed the first public notice for the environmental impact assessment. The project is located in the Hubei Yidu Chemical Industrial Park, adjacent to Xingfa Group’s phosphate ore resource area and industry-chain enterprises such as CATL’s BOPP, and it has notable logistics and synergy advantages.

Midstream Material Manufacturing: Hundred-Billion Investment to Build a Complete Materials System

Based on upstream resource assurance, Wanhua Chemical has already formed a complete matrix of battery materials products in the midstream material manufacturing sector. Currently, the company’s total investment in the battery materials industry has exceeded 10 billion yuan, and it has established multiple production bases in Yantai, Haiyang, and Laizhou in Shandong, as well as Meishan in Sichuan.

Cathode Material Layout: Lithium Iron Phosphate as the Core Direction. At present, the company has completed a 10,000-ton/year ternary cathode materials project (Meishan, Sichuan; planned to be converted to an annual production of 30,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate), a 50,000-ton/year lithium iron phosphate cathode materials project (Meishan, Sichuan), and a 100,000-ton/year lithium iron phosphate project (Haiyang, Shandong; expected to start production in June 2026). Projects under construction include 650,000 tons/year in Laizhou, Shandong, and 400,000 tons/year in Haiyang, Shandong. In the cathode materials field, the company has completed four generations of technology iteration; the fourth-generation product (compacted density ≥2.5g/cm³) has achieved mass production, and the fifth-generation product (compacted density ≥2.58g/cm³, included in the “China Prohibited Export and Restricted Export Technology Directory”) has been finalized. By 2027, Wanhua Chemical’s total lithium iron phosphate production capacity is expected to reach 10 million tons.

Anode Materials Breakthrough: The company has overcome three major technology routes—graphite anodes, silicon-carbon anodes, and resin-based hard carbon anodes. Its independently developed continuous graphitization technology reduces costs by 70%. At present, the 300,000-ton/year man-made graphite anode materials project under construction in Haiyang, Shandong will further consolidate the company’s competitive advantage in the anode materials sector.

Electrolyte and Solvent System: In electrolyte materials, the company has laid out key products such as lithium hexafluorophosphate, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), carbonate esters, and 1,4-butanediol. The 80,000-ton/year NMP project in Meishan, Sichuan has achieved full industry-chain integration from natural gas to NMP. The 10,000-ton/year lithium hexafluorophosphate project has recently entered the stage of completion environmental protection acceptance.

Key Supporting Materials: In the binders field, the company has laid out materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and polyamide (PA). The 20,000-ton/year PVDF integrated project in Meishan, Sichuan has been completed, and the 50,000-ton/year high-performance anode binder and the 0.5-ton/year water-based binder projects in the Ningbo New Materials Industrial Park are under construction.

Downstream Application Extension: Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Closed Loop

To improve the closed-loop industrial chain of battery materials, Wanhua Chemical is simultaneously laying out downstream battery applications and recycling. The power enterprise that the company holds equity in, Lihua Power, is currently building a 25GWh large cylindrical energy storage project, with a total investment of 10 billion yuan, focusing on the production of “46-diameter series” large cylindrical batteries. Among them, the first-phase 4GWh production line has officially begun operation.

In the battery recycling sector, Wanhua Chemical previously built a project for dismantling used batteries and resource utilization of black powder in Yantai, and it signed a cooperation agreement with Jereh Environmental to jointly promote lithium battery resource disposal. This time, by establishing Hubei Huaxing New Energy through setting up a company, it further strengthens the company’s strategic layout in battery recycling and cascade utilization, and builds a complete industrial ecosystem of “coming from minerals, going into batteries, and ultimately returning to resources.”

Industry Chain Synergy Advantages and Technical Barriers

Wanhua Chemical’s rapid development in the battery materials industry benefits from its solid technical foundation accumulated in the chemical sector and its industry-chain synergy capabilities. The company’s investments in the battery materials industry have formed a clear virtuous cycle: upstream resource deployment ensures stable raw material supply; midstream material manufacturing establishes cost and performance advantages through large-scale production capacity and continuous technology iteration; and downstream applications and recycling ensure the realization of the full lifecycle value of materials.

From a technical perspective, the company has established an independent intellectual property system in cathode, anode, electrolyte, and key auxiliary materials. Its fifth-generation lithium iron phosphate technology has been included in the export control directory, reflecting the company’s leading position in core technology. In terms of cost control, the company has achieved significant cost reductions through integrated industry-chain layout and process innovation across multiple links.

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