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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[528,529,530,532,534,536,538,540,542,544,546,548],{"date":228,"value":522},{"date":257,"value":523},{"date":260,"value":531},99.19,{"date":471,"value":533},96.02,{"date":474,"value":535},98.23,{"date":477,"value":537},99.24,{"date":335,"value":539},101.29,{"date":345,"value":541},87.61,{"date":347,"value":543},92.44,{"date":350,"value":545},90.96,{"date":353,"value":547},92.24,{"date":356,"value":549},95.09,{"id":551,"uuid":552,"name":553,"slug":554,"full_slug":555,"content":556,"relatedArticles":700,"relatedVideos":701},112472412519638,"e3dbc9f7-afb1-4ace-a7af-7d776f936144","Natural graphite prices ease from eight-year high as China’s economy cools","natural-graphite-prices-ease-from-eight-year-high-as-chinas-economy-cools","article/natural-graphite-prices-ease-from-eight-year-high-as-chinas-economy-cools",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":678,"featured":51,"reporter":679,"_editable":683,"component":684,"seo_title":553,"categories":685,"visibility":692,"author_company":49,"featured_image":693,"seo_description":678,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":698,"formattedArticleDate":699},"25ce15c0-36ee-46fc-9666-8ae63ed65dde","2022-09-14 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,583,588,593,598,603,608,615,620,625,630,635,640,645,650,653,658,663,668,673],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582},"Natural flake graphite prices fell for a third straight month in August as strong seasonal supply and weakness in China’s steel sector impacted flake graphite market pricing, according to Benchmark’s Graphite Price Assessment.","text",{"type":577,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":582},"The price of higher purity -100 mesh flake graphite, the preferred feedstock material for electric vehicle anodes, is down by 8.4% since hitting an eight-year high in late May, ending a rally that began a year ago, driven by seasonal shutdowns and government environmental inspections that halted  operations in Luobei county, located in the hub of graphite production and processing in China, Heilongjiang province.",{"type":577,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":582},"Sustained and rising battery demand from the electric vehicle supply chain, however, is replacing lost steel demand and preventing natural graphite prices from falling further, according to Benchmark. Graphite anodes make up around 6% of the cost of the materials in a lithium ion cell.",{"type":577,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":582},"Prices for uncoated spherical graphite used in lithium ion battery anodes have fallen only 3% since hitting their highest levels since late 2019 in June, according to Benchmark.",{"type":577,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":582},"“There is potential for market tightness in the fourth quarter of this year and first quarter of 2023 on rising anode demand,” George Miller, an analyst at Benchmark, said. “The polarisation in downstream demand trajectories from the two largest end markets for natural graphite became more apparent in August.”",{"type":577,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":582},"Producers in Heilongjiang normally reach peak production in the summer months, with excess seasonal supply being compounded by the weakening of China’s steel market due to a slowing real estate market and efforts by the Chinese government to limit emissions-heavy industries. Chinese crude steel production in the first half of 2022 fell by 7% compared to the same period a year earlier.",{"type":609,"attrs":610,"content":612},"heading",{"level":611,"textAlign":49},4,[613],{"text":614,"type":582},"Prices head lower",{"type":577,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":582},"Higher levels of seasonal supply from graphite mines in Heilongjiang province’s Luobei and Jixi helped place downward pressure on the overall Benchmark Flake Graphite Price Index, down by 2.2% month-on-month.",{"type":577,"attrs":621,"content":622},{"textAlign":49},[623],{"text":624,"type":582},"Prices for higher purity -100 mesh natural graphite fell by 3.8% in August from a month earlier to an average of $765 a tonne, according to Benchmark. In May they averaged $835 a tonne, with transactions at the top of the monthly range peaking at $900/tonne.",{"type":609,"attrs":626,"content":627},{"level":611,"textAlign":49},[628],{"text":629,"type":582},"All eyes on Heilongjiang",{"type":577,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":582},"But environmental concerns could limit Chinese supply in the near-term. Environmental inspections in Luobei county, Heilongjiang province, in the first half of 2022 discovered transgressions which producers were forced to remedy, delaying the restart of production following typical winter seasonal closures.",{"type":577,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":582},"Follow-up inspections may continue to impact graphite producers in Luobei throughout September, which could lead to a restricted natural graphite production as seen in the first half of the year, industry contacts told Benchmark.",{"type":577,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":582},"As a result, contacts stated that companies are currently reluctant to sell their graphite inventories, in an effort to stock material as reserves should they be forced to shut down operations temporarily during, or as a result of, inspections.",{"type":577,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":582},"Heilongjiang, China’s largest graphite producing region, mined 615,000 tonnes of flake graphite in 2021, or about 58% of the global supply, according to Benchmark’s Flake Graphite Assessment.",{"type":577,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":609,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"level":611,"textAlign":49},[656],{"text":657,"type":582},"Batteries to become dominant demand source",{"type":577,"attrs":659,"content":660},{"textAlign":49},[661],{"text":662,"type":582},"The demand for flake graphite is expected to exceed 1 million tonnes this year, as per the Benchmark’s Flake Graphite Demand Forecast. Of this the demand from the lithium ion batteries makes up nearly 46% of the overall volume and refractory and foundry about 38%.",{"type":577,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":582},"Flake graphite is heavily used in refractory applications and the foundry industry.",{"type":577,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":582},"By the end of 2030 the overall demand for flake graphite is expected to rise to reach over 4 million tonnes, an increase of 288% over 2022. By then, demand from the lithium ion battery volume is expected to gain a much larger share of 82% even as the share of refractory and foundry falls to 13%.",{"type":577,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":582},"Demand from the refractory and foundry industry is expected to grow by 30% during that period while that of the lithium ion batteries increases by almost six-fold.","Natural flake graphite prices fell for a third straight month in August as strong seasonal supply and weakness in China’s steel sector impacted flake graphite market pricing, according to Benchmark’s Graphite Price Assessment. The price of higher purity -100 mesh flake graphite, the preferred feedstock material for electric vehicle anodes, is down by 8.4% since […]",[680],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":681},{"job_title":568,"image":682,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"25ce15c0-36ee-46fc-9666-8ae63ed65dde\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[686,689],{"slug":687,"name":688},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":690,"name":691},"graphite","Graphite","private",{"id":49,"alt":694,"name":694,"focus":694,"title":694,"source":694,"filename":695,"copyright":694,"fieldtype":696,"meta_data":697,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/2a8e419510/bm-madagasgar-graphite-mine-e1663151995485.jpg","asset",{"alt":694,"title":694,"source":694,"copyright":694},"Sep 14, 2022","14th September 2022",[],[],1788535213458]