Resumen de Synthetic graphite fends off natural competition
Industrial Minerals
[...]according to end-users in the lithium-ion battery supply chain - who buy graphite from select suppliers, based on its quality, uniformity and reliability - prices for natural graphite are similar to those for the synthetic alternative when battery materials made from one or the other source are compared like-for-like. The shortages were caused by a combination of environmentally driven closures among needle coke plants and steel blast furnaces in China, consequent surging demand for electrodes for use in electric-arc steel furnaces (EAFs), and rapidly increasing consumption of graphite anodes in lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles. [...]to primary synthetic graphite prices, natural flake graphite prices have relatively little bearing on the final price of battery graphite, even for premium large flakes sold for sphericizing, because the cost of processing and additional inputs determine the cost of the final product, and these fluctuate constantly. [...]even if synthetic graphite prices do rise dramatically, battery producers point out that the cost of graphite as a proportion of the overall cost of battery production remains so small that there is significant headroom to absorb price increases – and they are prepared to do this in the interests of maintaining quality, consistency and reliability of supply.
