Graphite — material dossier

Structural facts + context. Verified components marked.

What it is

Allotrope of carbon. Two commercial sources matter:

1. Natural graphite — mined as flake or amorphous forms, then processed. China dominates. Used directly (refractories, lubricants) or further processed into spherical graphite (SPG) for battery anodes. 2. Synthetic graphite — made from petroleum coke or coal tar pitch via graphitization. Energy-intensive process; higher purity than most natural. Dominant in battery anodes for premium applications (long-cycle-life cells).

Several distinct products:

• Flake graphite (94-97% purity) — raw, feedstock for SPG
• Spherical graphite (SPG, 99.95%+) — battery-anode grade

processed from flake, small particle, spheronised

• Synthetic graphite — engineered, higher performance +

higher cost

• Graphite electrodes — massive forms for electric-arc

steel furnaces

• Isostatic graphite — aerospace, nuclear, specialty

Production (verified via Statista, 2024)

Global mine production ~1.6 million tonnes/year.

Reserves: China 81Mt (largest), Brazil 74Mt, Madagascar 26Mt, Mozambique 25Mt, Turkey 90Mt (but underdeveloped).

China supplies ~42% of US graphite imports — direct exposure.

Refining / processing (the real chokepoint)

Natural flake → Spherical graphite (SPG) processing is even more Chinese-concentrated than mining. China has >90% of global SPG processing capacity. The mining geography has diversified (Madagascar, Mozambique, Brazil) but the downstream refining into battery-grade anode material remains almost entirely Chinese.

Synthetic graphite is more geographically distributed (SGL Carbon Germany, Imerys, Tokai Carbon Japan, Showa Denko/Resonac Japan, GrafTech US) but smaller share of battery-anode market than natural-derived SPG.

Non-Chinese SPG capacity (emerging):

• Syrah Resources (Australia/Mozambique): Vidalia LA SPG plant
• Novonix (Australia/US): synthetic graphite
• Anovion (US): synthetic graphite
• Nouveau Monde Graphite (Canada)
• Mason Graphite (Canada)

All at early commercial scale (<10% combined).

Price state (structural — no spot price fetched this wake)

Graphite pricing is opaque — multiple grades, mostly contract- priced, no single exchange. Approximate ranges (structural):

• Large flake (+100 mesh, 94-97% C): ~$1,000-1,500/t
• Jumbo flake (+80 mesh, 97% C): ~$1,500-2,500/t
• Spherical graphite battery-grade: ~$3,500-5,500/t
• Synthetic graphite battery-grade: ~$5,000-8,000/t
• Graphite electrodes (UHP EAF-grade): wildly cyclical

$3,000-30,000/t, currently mid-range

Price trend 2024-2025: battery-grade rising, electrode weak, flake mixed. Further verification via Fastmarkets / Benchmark / Argus would give exact numbers — those sources are paywalled.

Demand structure

• Battery anode (natural SPG + synthetic): ~45% and

fastest-growing. Every EV battery uses 50-100 kg of anode graphite (100% of anode today; silicon-anode adoption still small)

• Refractories + crucibles: ~15% (steel industry)
• Lubricants + industrial: ~10%
• Graphite electrodes: ~8% (EAF steel)
• Solar/carbon materials: ~8%
• Expandable graphite (fire retardants): ~6%
• Foundry, other: ~8%

The anode story is the dominant growth driver. Every EV sold, regardless of cathode chemistry (LFP, NCM, NCA), uses ~50-100 kg of anode graphite. LFP's rise doesn't reduce graphite demand — in fact LFP anodes are slightly more graphite-heavy because they're lower-voltage so need more material to hit the same energy.

Policy / geopolitical context (the central story)

China added flake graphite + synthetic graphite to its export control list in December 2024, joining gallium, germanium (Aug 2023), heavy REEs (Apr 2025), tungsten (announced), and others. This was a significant addition because graphite has direct battery-supply-chain exposure.

• Export licensing required since Dec 2024
• Initial license flow was slow (2025 H1 prices spiked)
• By 2026 Q1 licenses flowing more smoothly to approved

counterparties (especially Japanese, Korean battery makers with long relationships)

• US battery makers get delayed / conditional licenses

US / EU / AU response:

• US IRA FEOC rules exclude Chinese-processed graphite

from EV tax credits starting 2026-2027 (partial phase-in)

• DoD Defense Production Act funding: Anovion, Novonix,

Syrah awarded grants

• Australian Critical Minerals Strategy: Syrah is the

anchor project

• EU CRMA: graphite on strategic list
• Canadian funding: Nouveau Monde, Mason Graphite

Non-Chinese SPG is a multi-year capacity race. Syrah Vidalia LA aims for ~11,250 t/yr by 2027 (vs. Chinese capacity of ~1.5M t/yr). Math makes clear: non-Chinese capacity will remain <10% of global for years, so the FEOC-exempt battery-grade is heavily premium-priced.

Concentration risks (ranked)

1. Chinese graphite export license tightening — already happening; further restrictions would immediately spike Western battery-grade prices 2. Madagascar / Mozambique political instability — both major non-Chinese flake sources; volatile 3. Syrah Vidalia ramp delays — US non-Chinese SPG flagship; delays would prolong FEOC pricing stress 4. LFP anode chemistry shift — same amount of graphite per kWh; not a demand-erosion risk like with cobalt

Unlike cobalt (where LFP is a demand headwind), graphite demand grows with EVs regardless of cathode chemistry. Structural demand floor is robust.

Players to know

Chinese majors

• BTR New Energy Materials (China, largest SPG producer)
• Shanshan Technology (China, integrated anode maker)
• Shijiazhuang Shangtai (China, flake)
• South Graphite / Beiterui (China)

Non-Chinese flake mining

• Syrah Resources (Australia, Balama project Mozambique)
• Northern Graphite (Canada, Quebec projects)
• Nouveau Monde Graphite (Canada)
• Mason Graphite (Canada)
• Tirupati Graphite (UK-listed, Madagascar projects)

Non-Chinese SPG / synthetic

• Syrah Resources — Vidalia LA, first non-Chinese at-scale SPG
• Novonix (Australia/US — synthetic graphite Tennessee)
• Anovion (US — synthetic, DoD-funded)
• Nouveau Monde Graphite — Bécancour QC
• Graphite One (US — Alaska Graphite Creek project)

Synthetic graphite majors

• SGL Carbon / Resonac Graphite (Germany/Japan)
• Imerys (France)
• Tokai Carbon (Japan)
• GrafTech (US)
• HEG (India — graphite electrodes)

What to watch monthly

• China Ministry of Commerce graphite export license

approval rate (opaque; follow aggregate export data)

• Syrah Resources Vidalia ramp updates (quarterly)
• Anovion + Novonix capacity milestones
• BTR + Shanshan production + pricing (via Chinese news)
• US DoD DPA awards for graphite projects
• EV production + battery chemistry mix (CAAM, BNEF)
• Benchmark Mineral Intelligence anode market reports

Cross-references

• Reports: docs/minerals/reports/YYYY-MM-graphite.md
• Related:

- docs/minerals/materials/germanium-gallium.md — same Chinese export-control playbook (Ge/Ga Aug 2023, graphite Dec 2024, pattern of sequential controls) - docs/minerals/materials/lithium.md + cobalt.md + nickel.md — graphite is the anode complement to these cathode materials in the EV battery supply chain - docs/minerals/reports/2026-04-overview.md — graphite belongs in the "concentrated Chinese refining + policy lever" cluster alongside REE + Ge/Ga