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SP Angel – Graphite Market Report
Graphite market driven by Li-ion battery growth and China environmental legislation
Key themes
- Recovering prices are driven by strengths in the steel industry, tightening Chinese environmental legislation and budding Li-ion battery demand
- Traditional consumption is expected to plateau with electric economy growth as the main driver for future graphite pricing
- Expandable graphite demand accelerating to dominate future markets on stringent construction trends, drawing significant large-flake deposit pressure
- Graphene R&D investment will drive an innovative technology sector
- China to become net importer of natural graphite due to the war on smog and diminishing domestic ore quality
- Future supply focus in Africa and Canada, targeting highest purity raw material. Significant upside is available for value-add products, with prospective miners transitioning into technology materials companies to maximising potential market capitalisation.
Price Outlook
- Graphite is an allotrope (a chemically similar, structural modification of carbon), exhibiting both metallic and non-metallic properties which favour a vast number of end-use markets. Further to traditional steel manufacturing, the unique qualities of graphite, including very high thermal and electrical conductivity, lend itself to innovative battery and emerging technologies.
- Mined graphite is most commonly sold as a concentrate by private, direct negotiation, leading to opaque pricing structures. Pricing details are posted via minerals intelligence companies, for example ‘Industrial Minerals’, who provide guideline quoted prices with respect to long-term trends after surveying industry participants. Most natural graphite is typically sold to traders who upsell to intermediary refiners, polishers and shapers before retailed to final customers. With China dominating the market, responsible for 67% production in 2017 (source: USGS), the Asian powerhouse nation is setting the global standard for the commodity’s price.
See full report here for further details
Analysts
John Meyer – 0203 470 0490
James Mills - 0203 470 0490
Simon Beardsmore – 0203 470 0484
Sergey Raevskiy – 0203 470 0474
Phil Smith (Technology) – 0203 470 0475
Zac Phillips (Oil & Gas) – 0203 470 0481
Sales
Richard Parlons – 0203 470 0472
Jonathan Williams – 0203 470 0471
Sales
Richard Parlons – 0203 470 0472
Jonathan Williams – 0203 470 0471
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