Benchmark launches FOB East Africa graphite prices as demand for graphite from outside China mounts

Graphite buyers are increasingly seeking to diversify their raw material supply away from China. This has pushed the supply chain to call for new graphite price grades which reflect the trends in this market outside of China.

In the graphite market, trade flows have been disrupted by policy announcements restricting imports from specific countries, for example through the introduction of export licence requirements and tariffs. In 2025, China will produce about 70% of global supplies of natural flake graphite and almost all the spherical graphite used in anodes for lithium ion batteries.

“China’s leadership position in the graphite market means it continues to be the trading venue for the majority of flake graphite that ends up in battery anodes. However, this grip on the market could gradually weaken as downstream customers look to alternative sources for material,” said Adam Megginson, senior analyst at Benchmark.

In the face of more volatile policy and in an acknowledgement of the risks of relying on a single trade partner, East African graphite projects have emerged as a hub for competitive natural graphite supply.

New pricing required to capture demand for ex-China graphite

In response to this growing demand to track ex-China supply developments, Benchmark has launched two new graphite price grades covering the East Africa region. +80 mesh and -100 mesh, both capturing material with a carbon concentration between 94-95%, on an FOB East Africa basis.

The grades join a +80 mesh, 94-95% carbon grade on an FOB China basis as well as three existing -100 mesh, 94-95% carbon grades, on a CIF North America, FOB China and DDP China basis, which Benchmark assesses using primary data collected directly from active market participants.

The new FOB East Africa flake graphite grade is published as part of Benchmark’s Graphite Price Assessment service, giving graphite market players greater opportunity to manage price risk by indexing supply contracts to region-specific trends.

“Graphite players outside of China have been searching for price indexes that are independent of transactions in the China market. These companies need a tool to settle supply contracts that ensures their prices match the supply and demand trends unfolding in East Africa,” said Daisy Jennings-Gray, Head of Prices at Benchmark.

“The graphite market remains opaque, and China’s prominent position means that participants in other regions have previously had no choice but to absorb price trends unfolding in the country, whether their supply chain passes through China or not. In East Africa, we are seeing the capacity of mining operations mounting, and buyers and sellers are calling for price reporting to evolve to capture regional price differences and shine a brighter light on their supply chain,” she added.

“With China set to make up more than 75% of the global natural graphite anode market share by the end of the decade, further investments outside China will be essential to support healthy competition and challenge its dominant market position,” said Megginson.

In August 2025, +80 mesh, 94-95% C natural graphite on an FOB East Africa basis was assessed by Benchmark at an average of $1,250/tonne, representing a moderate 2.0% decrease m-o-m. Meanwhile, prices for -100 mesh material of the same concentration rose by 3.7% m-o-m to reach an average of $537/tonne (FOB East Africa) over the same period.

Antidumping tariff on Chinese anode material imported to USA

In July 2025, the US Department of Commerce issued a preliminary determination that China was dumping graphite anode active material into the US market, and responded with an antidumping tariff of 93.5% on most imports of the material from the country. The tariffs add to existing tariffs, bringing the total charge on most anode imports from China to the US to 160.08%.

The new tariff would make US-made anode material cheaper than Chinese-made for the first time. Although between January 2022 and December 2024 the US imported just over twice as much synthetic graphite as it did coated spherical purified graphite, the announcement has sent shockwaves through Chinese graphite and anode material supply chain participants looking to target the US market. Conversely, it offers an opportunity for graphite and anode producers and aspirants in other countries to more readily compete with China on cost, which has long been a challenging endeavour.

This move highlights the vulnerability of the graphite supply chain to disruption from policy directives and highlights the need for specific price reporting to cover these emerging alternative graphite hubs.

Benchmark has just launched its new FOB East Africa flake graphite grade, published as part of Benchmark’s Natural Graphite Price Assessment.

Benchmark’s price assessments are used by supply chain participants for contract settlement, indexation and price risk management.

If you would like to speak to Benchmark’s experts to learn more about our new FOB East Africa flake graphite grade or our wider graphite services, please provide your details below and our team will be in touch.