The Global Market for Graphite 2023-2033

Published May 2023 | 198 pages, 43 figures, 33 tables | Download table of contents

Graphite is a critical raw material for the green transition and demand is increasing in markets including electric vehicles and green energy storage. Based on current production, demand from these markets will result in a significant supply shortfall by 2033 unless mining and production is greatly expanded. Future energy needs will require supply of raw materials for the development of low-carbon technologies. Graphite is viewed as a critical material for decarbonizing transportation and heavy industry, resulting in high market growth in the coming years.

Graphite is used across multiple industries such as automotive, steel-making, powder metallurgy, fuel cells, and flame retardants. Graphite is the dominant active anode material used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EV). Huge growth in demand for batteries in electric vehicles and energy storage systems has underpinned recent changes in the graphite market landscape.

Desirable properties of graphite include:

good conductor of heat and electricity.
high regular stiffness and strength.
maintains firmness and strength up to temperature more than 3600 °C
highly lubricating material with chemical inertness and corrosion resistance.

Graphite is classified as natural and synthetic. Natural graphite is further classified into three principal types, crystalline small flake graphite (or flake graphite), crystalline vein or lump graphite, and amorphous graphite (very fine flake graphite), which have different physical properties, appearance, chemical composition, and impurities. Natural graphite can is mined in multiple countries. Synthetic graphite is produced from oil or coal-based needle coke and is preferred in the production electric arc furnaces (EAFs) for steelmaking. Battery producers can use both synthetic and natural graphite as their raw material.

Report contents include:

In-depth analysis of the global market for graphite.
Analysis of types of graphite, markets, applications and producers.
Recent market activity, drivers and trends.
Graphite pricing, historical, current and forecasts.
Market tonnage data-historical (2010-2022), estimates for 2023, and projections to 2033.
Regional market analysis.
Market share analysis based on type of graphite, end-use industry, and geographic region.
Graphite market in China.
Profiles of 94 companies. Companies profiled include Black Rock Mining, Evolution Energy, GrafTech International, Gratomic, Graphite India, Leading Edge Materials, NextSource Materials, Nippon Carbon, Reflex Advanced Materials Corp., Renascor Resources, SEC Carbon, SGL Group, Showa Denko, Syrah Resources, Talga Group, Tirupati Carbon & Graphite, Tokai Carbon, and Volt Resources.

1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12

2 INTRODUCTION 13

2.1 Types of graphite 15
- 2.1.1 Natural vs synthetic graphite 16
2.2 Natural graphite 18
- 2.2.1 Classification 19
- 2.2.2 Processing 20
- 2.2.3 Flake 20
  - 2.2.3.1 Grades 21
  - 2.2.3.2 Applications 21
  - 2.2.3.3 Spherical graphite 23
  - 2.2.3.4 Expandable graphite 23
- 2.2.4 Amorphous graphite 24
  - 2.2.4.1 Applications 25
- 2.2.5 Crystalline vein graphite 25
  - 2.2.5.1 Applications 25
2.3 Synthetic graphite 26
- 2.3.1 Classification 26
  - 2.3.1.1 Primary synthetic graphite 27
  - 2.3.1.2 Secondary synthetic graphite 27
- 2.3.2 Processing 28
  - 2.3.2.1 Processing for battery anodes 28
- 2.3.3 Issues with synthetic graphite production 29
- 2.3.4 Isostatic Graphite 29
  - 2.3.4.1 Description 29
  - 2.3.4.2 Markets 30
  - 2.3.4.3 Producers and production capacities 31
- 2.3.5 Graphite electrodes 31
- 2.3.6 Extruded Graphite 32
- 2.3.7 Vibration Molded Graphite 33
- 2.3.8 Die-molded graphite 34
2.4 New technologies 34
2.5 Recycling of graphite materials 35
2.6 Applications of graphite 35
2.7 Graphite pricing (ton) 37
- 2.7.1 Pricing in 2023 38
2.8 Graphene 40
- 2.8.1 CVD Graphene 45
- 2.8.2 Graphene nanoplatelets 47
- 2.8.3 Graphene oxide and reduced Graphene Oxide 48
- 2.8.4 Markets and applications 49
- 2.8.5 Prices 58
- 2.8.6 Graphene production capacities 59
- 2.8.7 Graphene producers 61

3 MARKETS FOR GRAPHITE 72

3.1 Global production of graphite 72
- 3.1.1 Global mine production and reserves of natural graphite 72
- 3.1.2 Global graphite production in tonnes, 2016-2022 73
- 3.1.3 Estimated global graphite production in tonnes, 2023-2033 74
- 3.1.4 Synthetic graphite supply 76
3.2 Global market demand for graphite by end use market 2016-2033, tonnes 77
- 3.2.1 Natural graphite 77
- 3.2.2 Synthetic graphite 78
3.3 Demand for graphite by end use markets, 2022 79
3.4 Demand for graphite by end use markets, 2033 80
3.5 Graphite market developments 2020-2023 81
3.6 Demand by region 84
- 3.6.1 China 84
  - 3.6.1.1 Diversification of global supply and production 85
3.6.2 Asia-Pacific 85
- 3.6.2.1 Synthetic graphite 86
- 3.6.2.2 Natural graphite 87
3.6.3 North America 88
- 3.6.3.1 Synthetic graphite 89
- 3.6.3.2 Natural graphite 90
3.6.4 Europe 92
- 3.6.4.1 Synthetic graphite 92
- 3.6.4.2 Natural graphite 93
3.6.5 Brazil 95
3.7 Factors that aid graphite market growth 95
3.8 Factors that hinder graphite market growth 96
3.9 Graphite market in 2022 96
3.10 The graphite market in 2023 and beyond 97
3.11 Main market players 98
- 3.11.1 Natural graphite 98
- 3.11.2 Synthetic graphite 98
3.12 Market supply chain 100
3.13 Lithium-ion batteries 102
- 3.13.1 Gigafactories 104
- 3.13.2 Anode material in electric vehicles 107
  - 3.13.2.1 Properties 108
  - 3.13.2.2 Market demand 109
- 3.13.3 Recent trends in the automotive market and EVs 110
- 3.13.4 Higher costs and tight supply 110
- 3.13.5 Forecast for EVs 110
- 3.13.6 Graphite alternatives for batteries 111
3.14 Refractory manufacturing (Steel market) 112
- 3.14.1 Steel market trends and graphite growth 112
- 3.14.2 Carbon Sources for refractories 113
- 3.14.3 Electric arc furnaces in steelmaking 114
3.15 Recarburising 116
3.16 Graphite shapes 117
3.17 Electronics 117
- 3.17.1 Thermal management 117
3.18 Electrode materials for fuel cells 118
3.19 Nuclear 118
3.20 Lubricants 118
3.21 Friction materials 119
3.22 Flame retardants 120
3.23 Solar and wind turbines 121

4 COMPANY PROFILES 122 (94 company profiles)

5 REFERENCES 193

List of Tables

Table 1. Selected physical properties of graphite. 13
Table 2. Characteristics of natural and synthetic graphite. 15
Table 3. Comparison between Natural and Synthetic Graphite. 16
Table 4. Classification of natural graphite with its characteristics. 19
Table 5. Characteristics of synthetic graphite. 26
Table 6: Main markets and applications of isostatic graphite. 30
Table 7. Current or planned production capacities for isostatic graphite. 31
Table 8. Main graphite electrode producers and capacities (MT/year). 31
Table 9. Markets and applications of graphite. 35
Table 10. Classification, application and price of graphite as a function of size. 37
Table 11. Properties of graphene, properties of competing materials, applications thereof. 41
Table 12. Types of graphene and typical prices. 44
Table 13. Applications of GO and rGO. 49
Table 14. Markets, benefits and applications of graphene. 49
Table 15. Graphene types and cost per kg. 58
Table 16. Main graphene producers by country, annual production capacities, types and main markets they sell into. 59
Table 17. Graphene producers. 61
Table 18. Estimated global mine Production of natural graphite 2020-2022, by country (tons). 72
Table 19. Global production of graphite 2016-2022 MT. 73
Table 20. Estimated global graphite production in tonnes, 2023-2033. 74
Table 21. Graphite market developments 2020-2023. 81
Table 22. Demand for synthetic graphite in Asia-Pacific 2016-2033, tonnes. 86
Table 23. Demand for natural graphite in Asia-Pacific 2016-2033, tonnes. 87
Table 24. Demand for synthetic graphite in North America 2016-2033, tonnes. 89
Table 25. Demand for natural graphite in the USA 2016-2033, tonnes. 90
Table 26. Demand for synthetic graphite in Europe 2018-2033, tonnes. 92
Table 27. Demand for natural graphite in Europe 2016-2033, tonnes. 93
Table 28. Main natural graphite producers. 98
Table 29. Main synthetic graphite producers. 99
Table 30. Key minerals in an EV battery. 102
Table 31. Current and planned gigafactories. 104
Table 32. Overview of thermal management materials. 117
Table 33. Next Resources graphite flake products. 165

List of Figures

Figure 1. Structure of graphite. 14
Figure 2. Comparison of SEM micrographs of sphere-shaped natural graphite (NG; after several processing steps) and synthetic graphite (SG). 16
Figure 3. Overview of graphite production, processing and applications. 18
Figure 4. Flake graphite. 21
Figure 5. Applications of flake graphite. 22
Figure 6. Amorphous graphite. 24
Figure 7. Vein graphite. 26
Figure 8: Isostatic pressed graphite. 30
Figure 9. Global market for graphite EAFs, 2018-2033 (MT). 32
Figure 10. Extruded graphite rod. 33
Figure 11. Vibration Molded Graphite. 33
Figure 12. Die-molded graphite products. 34
Figure 13. Price of fine flake graphite 2022-2023. 38
Figure 14. Price of spherical graphite, 2022-2023. 39
Figure 15. Graphene layer structure schematic. 40
Figure 16. Illustrative procedure of the Scotch-tape based micromechanical cleavage of HOPG. 40
Figure 17. Graphite and graphene. 41
Figure 18. Types of CVD methods. 46
Figure 19. Schematic of the manufacture of GnPs starting from natural graphite. 48
Figure 20. Global production of graphite 2016-2022 MT. 74
Figure 21. Estimated global graphite production in tonnes, 2023-2033. 75
Figure 22. Global market demand for natural graphite by end use market 2016-2033, tonnes. 77
Figure 23. Global market demand for synthetic graphite by end use market 2016-2033, tonnes. 78
Figure 24. Consumption of graphite by end use markets, 2022. 79
Figure 25. Demand for graphite by end use markets, 2033. 80
Figure 26. Global consumption of graphite by type and region, 2022 84
Figure 27. Consumption of synthetic graphite in Asia-Pacific 2016-2033, tonnes. 87
Figure 28. Consumption of natural graphite in Asia-Pacific 2016-2033, tonnes. 88
Figure 29. Demand for synthetic graphite in North America 2016-2033, tonnes. 90
Figure 30. Demand for natural graphite in the USA 2018-2033, tonnes. 91
Figure 31. Consumption of synthetic graphite in Europe 2015-2021, tonnes. 93
Figure 32. Consumption of natural graphite in Europe 2015-2021, tonnes. 94
Figure 33. Graphite market supply chain (battery market). 102
Figure 34. Graphite battery market demand, by type 2016-2033, tonnes. 104
Figure 35. 2 Graphite: Content and share of total cell weight, for common types of lithium-ion cells for battery-powered electric vehicles. 108
Figure 36. Graphite as active anode material in lithium-ion cell. 109
Figure 37. Global electric car sales and share of global car sales, 2010-2023. 111
Figure 38. Graphite market demand for refractories, by type 2016-2033, tonnes. 114
Figure 39. Schematic illustration of an EAF. 115
Figure 40. Graphite electrodes demand 2018-2033 in EAFs (million MT). 116
Figure 41. Graphite market demand for recarburising, by type 2016-2033, tonnes. 116
Figure 42. Graphite market demand for recarburising, by type 2016-2033, tonnes. 119
Figure 43. Graphite market demand for friction products by type 2016-2033, tonnes. 120

The Global Market for Graphite 2023-2033

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Published May 2023 | 198 pages, 43 figures, 33 tables | Download table of contents

1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12

2 INTRODUCTION 13

3 MARKETS FOR GRAPHITE 72

4 COMPANY PROFILES 122 (94 company profiles)

5 REFERENCES 193

List of Tables

List of Figures

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