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GCL’s Battery Pivot Signals A Bigger Shift In China’s Silicon Industry Photograph: (AI)
GCL Technology is expanding beyond its traditional photovoltaic materials business, with the Chinese silicon producer ramping up lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode production and developing silicon-carbon anode materials as it seeks to build a second growth engine in the battery sector.
The company said the first phase of its 200,000-tonne-per-year LFP cathode material project in Leshan, Sichuan, commenced production in June 2026. Production is currently being ramped up, with the company expecting the facility to reach full capacity by the end of October.
GCL said its LFP products have passed validation procedures conducted by major customers and that it has secured multiple orders. Signed orders, according to the company, fully cover its total planned production capacity, with customers including industry leaders.
The company is already moving ahead with the second phase of the Leshan project, which will add another 200,000 tonnes of annual LFP capacity. The second phase is scheduled to begin production by the end of the first quarter of 2027, taking planned LFP capacity at the site to 400,000 tonnes per year.
The development marks a significant expansion of GCL’s business beyond photovoltaic polysilicon. The company said its LFP business is intended to provide additional revenue and profit while reducing its reliance on polysilicon as its primary source of growth.
GCL is also pursuing a more direct link between its existing silicon-material capabilities and the battery value chain through silicon-carbon anode technology.
The company said its 10,000-tonne-scale silicon-carbon anode and supporting porous-carbon pilot project in Xuzhou has commenced production. The pilot line uses a single-furnace process with annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes and incorporates proprietary processes and internally developed equipment.
Unlike the LFP business, however, the silicon-carbon anode operation remains at an earlier stage of commercialisation. GCL said the project is currently undergoing process optimisation and product validation, with customer sample submissions and testing expected to begin shortly.
The company is also working with the local government in Leshan on the transformation of existing granular-silicon facilities into silicon-carbon anode production facilities. GCL said reusing existing granular-silicon infrastructure could significantly reduce capital expenditure and shorten commissioning time compared with building a new production line.
This could become an important strategic advantage if the technology can be scaled commercially. GCL said its silicon-carbon anode process, based partly on its existing silicon and silane capabilities, could help optimise production costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions.
GCL has 600,000 tonnes of silane production capacity, which it describes as the world’s largest. The company believes this existing position can support the development and eventual industrialisation of silicon-carbon anode materials.
It plans to establish what it describes as the world’s largest silicon-carbon anode production base in Leshan, although the business remains subject to technology validation, capacity expansion and customer acceptance.
The move comes as GCL seeks to reposition itself from a conventional photovoltaic materials company towards a broader new-energy materials platform. The company said a greater contribution from LFP could eventually change its revenue mix and the way investors value the business.
The strategy also highlights a potential convergence between China’s solar-materials and battery-materials industries. Silicon has traditionally been central to the photovoltaic manufacturing chain, while the development of silicon-carbon anodes creates a potential route for silicon-material expertise and infrastructure to move into the battery sector.
For GCL, the strategy is built around two different levels of maturity: LFP is already in commercial production and generating operating profit, while silicon-carbon anodes remain in the pilot, validation and scale-up phase.
GCL said the Leshan LFP project has already generated operating profit and expects it to make a positive contribution to group financial performance in the second half of 2026 and subsequent years. The eventual contribution, however, will depend on production ramp-up, selling prices and raw-material costs.
The company also flagged risks surrounding LFP raw-material prices, production ramp-up, customer concentration, technical changes, customer validation, competition, regulatory approvals and the international trade environment.
The battery-materials push therefore represents more than a diversification announcement for GCL. It is an attempt to use the company’s existing silicon-related capabilities, manufacturing infrastructure and process technology to participate in a larger battery-materials market while reducing its dependence on the cyclical photovoltaic polysilicon business.
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