[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":750},["ShallowReactive",2],{"ticker-data":3,"story-article/western-ev-makers-face-up-to-chinas-grip-on-graphite-market":550},[4,52,82,112,148,186,229,261,297,336,378,419,460,490,520],{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":8,"today":9,"last":10,"percentageChange":11,"yearToDate":12,"yearOnYear":13,"oneYearIndexTrend":14,"url":48,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-14","2wk","Updated every 2 weeks","Lithium",317.07,322.34,-1.64,35.66,90.62,[15,16,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45],{"date":5,"value":9},{"date":17,"value":10},"2026-09-30",{"date":19,"value":20},"2026-09-16",354.99,{"date":22,"value":23},"2026-09-02",385.07,{"date":25,"value":26},"2026-08-19",372.67,{"date":28,"value":29},"2026-08-05",367.54,{"date":31,"value":32},"2026-07-22",388.26,{"date":34,"value":35},"2026-07-08",399.4,{"date":37,"value":38},"2026-06-24",410.62,{"date":40,"value":41},"2026-06-10",427.77,{"date":43,"value":44},"2026-05-27",449.85,{"date":46,"value":47},"2026-05-13",451.12,"/lithium/prices",null,false,true,{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":53,"today":54,"last":55,"percentageChange":56,"yearToDate":57,"yearOnYear":58,"oneYearIndexTrend":59,"url":48,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Lithium Carbonate",256.83,278.71,-7.85,1.12,46.89,[60,61,62,64,66,68,70,72,74,76,78,80],{"date":5,"value":54},{"date":17,"value":55},{"date":19,"value":63},300.39,{"date":22,"value":65},306.07,{"date":25,"value":67},297.22,{"date":28,"value":69},296.63,{"date":31,"value":71},309.38,{"date":34,"value":73},317.2,{"date":37,"value":75},330.54,{"date":40,"value":77},346.5,{"date":43,"value":79},358.35,{"date":46,"value":81},350.28,{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":83,"today":84,"last":85,"percentageChange":86,"yearToDate":87,"yearOnYear":88,"oneYearIndexTrend":89,"url":48,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Lithium Hydroxide",292.05,311.1,-6.12,43.7,92,[90,91,92,94,96,98,100,102,104,106,108,110],{"date":5,"value":84},{"date":17,"value":85},{"date":19,"value":93},339.85,{"date":22,"value":95},352.45,{"date":25,"value":97},341.12,{"date":28,"value":99},337.87,{"date":31,"value":101},354.36,{"date":34,"value":103},364.06,{"date":37,"value":105},376.67,{"date":40,"value":107},393.29,{"date":43,"value":109},411.01,{"date":46,"value":111},408.51,{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":113,"updateFrequencyText":114,"label":115,"today":116,"last":117,"percentageChange":118,"yearToDate":119,"yearOnYear":120,"oneYearIndexTrend":121,"url":147,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"1wk","Updated every week","Cobalt",171.41,173.83,-1.39,-27.13,-1.06,[122,123,125,126,129,131,133,136,138,141,142,145],{"date":5,"value":116},{"date":124,"value":117},"2026-10-07",{"date":17,"value":117},{"date":127,"value":128},"2026-09-23",175.44,{"date":19,"value":130},178.66,{"date":22,"value":132},189.92,{"date":134,"value":135},"2026-08-26",192.6,{"date":25,"value":137},199.83,{"date":139,"value":140},"2026-08-12",217.25,{"date":28,"value":140},{"date":143,"value":144},"2026-07-29",221.25,{"date":31,"value":146},224.44,"/cobalt/prices",{"publishedDate":149,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":150,"today":151,"last":152,"percentageChange":153,"yearToDate":154,"yearOnYear":155,"oneYearIndexTrend":156,"url":185,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-21","Nickel",107.13,114.04,-6.06,-11.27,-0.65,[157,158,159,161,164,166,168,170,173,176,179,182],{"date":149,"value":151},{"date":124,"value":152},{"date":127,"value":160},116.1,{"date":162,"value":163},"2026-09-09",119.13,{"date":134,"value":165},119.61,{"date":139,"value":167},121.04,{"date":143,"value":169},121.19,{"date":171,"value":172},"2026-07-15",122.66,{"date":174,"value":175},"2026-07-01",125.61,{"date":177,"value":178},"2026-06-17",131.5,{"date":180,"value":181},"2026-06-03",134.65,{"date":183,"value":184},"2026-05-20",135.83,"/nickel/prices",{"publishedDate":17,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":189,"today":190,"last":191,"percentageChange":192,"yearToDate":193,"yearOnYear":194,"oneYearIndexTrend":195,"url":228,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"1mo","Updated every month","Natural Graphite",78.45,80.18,-2.16,-3.84,-4.03,[196,197,199,202,205,208,211,214,217,220,223,226],{"date":17,"value":190},{"date":198,"value":191},"2026-08-28",{"date":200,"value":201},"2026-07-31",80.66,{"date":203,"value":204},"2026-06-30",82.87,{"date":206,"value":207},"2026-05-29",82.99,{"date":209,"value":210},"2026-04-30",82.93,{"date":212,"value":213},"2026-03-31",82.39,{"date":215,"value":216},"2026-02-27",81.92,{"date":218,"value":219},"2026-01-30",81.69,{"date":221,"value":222},"2025-12-31",81.58,{"date":224,"value":225},"2025-11-28",81.35,{"date":227,"value":225},"2025-10-31","/natural-graphite/prices",{"publishedDate":17,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":230,"today":231,"last":232,"percentageChange":233,"yearToDate":234,"yearOnYear":235,"oneYearIndexTrend":236,"url":260,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Anode Coke",86.15,81.86,5.24,15.73,19.78,[237,238,239,241,242,244,246,248,250,252,254,257],{"date":17,"value":231},{"date":200,"value":232},{"date":203,"value":240},80.54,{"date":206,"value":240},{"date":209,"value":243},84.01,{"date":212,"value":245},79.79,{"date":215,"value":247},75.72,{"date":218,"value":249},74.61,{"date":221,"value":251},74.44,{"date":227,"value":253},72.75,{"date":255,"value":256},"2025-09-30",71.92,{"date":258,"value":259},"2025-08-29",71.46,"/synthetic-graphite/prices",{"publishedDate":262,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":263,"today":264,"last":265,"percentageChange":266,"yearToDate":267,"yearOnYear":268,"oneYearIndexTrend":269,"url":296,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-15","Anode",80.45,80.24,0.27,1.81,3.2,[270,271,273,275,276,278,281,284,287,289,291,293],{"date":262,"value":264},{"date":272,"value":265},"2026-09-15",{"date":274,"value":265},"2026-08-17",{"date":171,"value":265},{"date":277,"value":265},"2026-06-15",{"date":279,"value":280},"2026-05-15",79.16,{"date":282,"value":283},"2026-04-15",81.98,{"date":285,"value":286},"2026-03-16",79.03,{"date":288,"value":286},"2026-02-16",{"date":290,"value":286},"2026-01-15",{"date":292,"value":286},"2025-12-15",{"date":294,"value":295},"2025-11-17",77.79,"/anode/prices",{"publishedDate":298,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":299,"today":300,"last":301,"percentageChange":302,"yearToDate":303,"yearOnYear":304,"oneYearIndexTrend":305,"url":335,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-08-01","Cathode",73.32,77.21,-5.04,14.41,55.07,[306,307,308,311,314,317,320,323,325,327,329,332],{"date":298,"value":300},{"date":174,"value":301},{"date":309,"value":310},"2026-06-01",80.32,{"date":312,"value":313},"2026-05-01",81.71,{"date":315,"value":316},"2026-04-01",77.27,{"date":318,"value":319},"2026-03-01",81.99,{"date":321,"value":322},"2026-02-01",80.5,{"date":290,"value":324},72.79,{"date":292,"value":326},64.08,{"date":294,"value":328},62.01,{"date":330,"value":331},"2025-10-15",53.51,{"date":333,"value":334},"2025-09-15",49.5,"/cathode/prices",{"publishedDate":337,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":338,"today":339,"last":340,"percentageChange":341,"yearToDate":342,"yearOnYear":343,"oneYearIndexTrend":344,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2025-03-31","Lithium ion Batteries",74.53,71.3,4.53,-1.6,-20.88,[345,346,348,351,354,357,360,363,366,368,371,374],{"date":337,"value":339},{"date":347,"value":340},"2025-02-28",{"date":349,"value":350},"2025-01-31",71.45,{"date":352,"value":353},"2024-12-31",75.74,{"date":355,"value":356},"2024-11-29",76.98,{"date":358,"value":359},"2024-10-31",77.34,{"date":361,"value":362},"2024-09-30",77.43,{"date":364,"value":365},"2024-08-30",80.56,{"date":367,"value":207},"2024-07-31",{"date":369,"value":370},"2024-06-28",87.2,{"date":372,"value":373},"2024-05-31",90.7,{"date":375,"value":376},"2024-04-30",93.2,"/battery-gigafactory/prices",{"publishedDate":379,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":380,"today":381,"last":382,"percentageChange":383,"yearToDate":384,"yearOnYear":385,"oneYearIndexTrend":386,"url":418,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-08","Black Mass",37.11,38.95,-4.72,-14,18.31,[387,388,390,393,396,399,402,405,408,411,414,416],{"date":379,"value":381},{"date":389,"value":382},"2026-09-24",{"date":391,"value":392},"2026-09-10",42.03,{"date":394,"value":395},"2026-08-27",43.88,{"date":397,"value":398},"2026-08-13",42.33,{"date":400,"value":401},"2026-07-30",43.42,{"date":403,"value":404},"2026-07-16",46.74,{"date":406,"value":407},"2026-07-02",46.01,{"date":409,"value":410},"2026-06-18",49.57,{"date":412,"value":413},"2026-02-12",47.34,{"date":415,"value":410},"2026-01-29",{"date":290,"value":417},43.15,"/recycling/black-mass-prices",{"publishedDate":262,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":420,"today":421,"last":422,"percentageChange":423,"yearToDate":424,"yearOnYear":425,"oneYearIndexTrend":426,"url":459,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Rare Earths",172.08,171.72,0.21,20.59,30.21,[427,428,430,433,436,439,442,445,448,451,454,457],{"date":262,"value":421},{"date":429,"value":422},"2026-10-01",{"date":431,"value":432},"2026-09-03",170.83,{"date":434,"value":435},"2026-08-20",169.63,{"date":437,"value":438},"2026-08-06",172.28,{"date":440,"value":441},"2026-07-23",173.94,{"date":443,"value":444},"2026-07-09",171.69,{"date":446,"value":447},"2026-06-25",168.55,{"date":449,"value":450},"2026-06-11",165,{"date":452,"value":453},"2026-05-28",163.89,{"date":455,"value":456},"2026-05-14",172.63,{"date":209,"value":458},175.6,"/rare-earths/prices",{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":461,"today":462,"last":463,"percentageChange":464,"yearToDate":465,"yearOnYear":466,"oneYearIndexTrend":467,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"NCM Mid-Nickel",152.7,162.48,-6.02,17.38,53.11,[468,469,470,472,474,476,478,480,482,484,486,488],{"date":198,"value":462},{"date":200,"value":463},{"date":203,"value":471},171.08,{"date":206,"value":473},173.65,{"date":209,"value":475},164.53,{"date":212,"value":477},157.28,{"date":215,"value":479},151.44,{"date":218,"value":481},144.5,{"date":221,"value":483},130.09,{"date":224,"value":485},124.6,{"date":227,"value":487},122.35,{"date":255,"value":489},103.5,{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":491,"today":492,"last":493,"percentageChange":494,"yearToDate":495,"yearOnYear":496,"oneYearIndexTrend":497,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"NCM High-Nickel",144.45,149.67,-3.49,26.69,49.06,[498,499,500,502,504,506,508,510,512,514,516,518],{"date":198,"value":492},{"date":200,"value":493},{"date":203,"value":501},157.37,{"date":206,"value":503},160,{"date":209,"value":505},149.53,{"date":212,"value":507},141.97,{"date":215,"value":509},136.99,{"date":218,"value":511},129.81,{"date":221,"value":513},114.02,{"date":224,"value":515},109.17,{"date":227,"value":517},109.02,{"date":255,"value":519},99.44,{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":521,"today":522,"last":523,"percentageChange":524,"yearToDate":525,"yearOnYear":526,"oneYearIndexTrend":527,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"LFP",229.17,218.34,4.96,49.35,83.44,[528,529,530,532,534,536,538,540,542,544,546,548],{"date":198,"value":522},{"date":200,"value":523},{"date":203,"value":531},239.1,{"date":206,"value":533},258.32,{"date":209,"value":535},239.37,{"date":212,"value":537},213.01,{"date":215,"value":539},204.49,{"date":218,"value":541},218.06,{"date":221,"value":543},153.45,{"date":224,"value":545},134.02,{"date":227,"value":547},118.22,{"date":255,"value":549},111.93,{"id":551,"uuid":552,"name":553,"slug":554,"full_slug":555,"content":556,"relatedArticles":748,"relatedVideos":749},112473126301391,"5ae83e1f-6179-4cc2-ba19-c2fed193fa6f","Western EV makers face up to China’s grip on graphite market","western-ev-makers-face-up-to-chinas-grip-on-graphite-market","article/western-ev-makers-face-up-to-chinas-grip-on-graphite-market",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":726,"featured":50,"reporter":727,"_editable":731,"component":732,"seo_title":553,"categories":733,"visibility":740,"author_company":49,"featured_image":741,"seo_description":726,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":746,"formattedArticleDate":747},"5ab6ff76-d67e-456f-a8bb-ea98893218c4","2021-12-10 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",{"slug":564,"name":565},"data-visualisation","Data Visualisation",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":573},"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":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,596,601,614,619,624,636,641,646,651,658,663,668,673,678,683,688,693,696,701,706,711,716,721],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583,586,594],{"text":584,"type":585},"China’s dominance of ","text",{"text":587,"type":585,"marks":588},"the graphite market",[589],{"type":590,"attrs":591},"link",{"href":592,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/#graphite","url",{"text":595,"type":585}," could pose problems for western automakers as demand for anode material is set to rise by over seven times this decade.",{"type":580,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":585},"Automakers will need to diversify their sources of graphite to reduce the risks of relying on one country for a critical battery material, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.",{"type":580,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604,606,612],{"text":605,"type":585},"“China has become the central participant in all steps of this anode supply chain,” George Miller, an analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence",{"text":607,"type":585,"marks":608}," told Benchmark Week",[609],{"type":590,"attrs":610},{"href":611,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/video-library/",{"text":613,"type":585},". “It presents a geopolitical and supply security risk for any other region that intends to participate in this energy transition and manufacture anode material.”",{"type":580,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617],{"text":618,"type":585},"Tesla and Korean battery producer SK Innovation told the US government this month that it was impossible to source both synthetic and natural graphite for batteries outside of China. Tesla said that no company in the US was capable of producing graphite “to the required specifications and capacity needed for Tesla’s production.”",{"type":580,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"text":623,"type":585},"The remarks were part of a request to the Biden administration to extend an exclusion for graphite from a 25% tariff imposed on Chinese imports by former President Donald Trump. The previous extension ended at the end of last year.",{"type":580,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"textAlign":49},[627,629,634],{"text":628,"type":585},"China mines 69% of the world’s natural flake graphite and dominates the next step in the value chain where it produces 100% of global spherical graphite production, according to ",{"text":630,"type":585,"marks":631},"Benchmark’s Natural Flake Graphite Forecast",[632],{"type":590,"attrs":633},{"href":592,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},{"text":635,"type":585},". The bulk of synthetic anode production is also located in China. The current trend in the EV lithium ion market is a shift towards a blend of synthetic and natural graphite anodes to take advantage of their different properties.",{"type":580,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":585},"“When looking at events over the past two years including the chips shortage … the risk in embuing one country with a hefty majority of the processing power in a supply chain as critical of this becomes evident,” Miller said.",{"type":580,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644],{"text":645,"type":585},"SK Innovation, which has a partnership with Ford in the US to produce batteries, said that “presently, it is not feasible for SK Battery and its subsidiary BlueOvalSK to obtain graphite from other sources outside of China due to the uniqueness of the product, the incredible risk of entering the graphite industry, and the lack of suppliers that can meet our present needs.”",{"type":580,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649],{"text":650,"type":585},"“A renewed exclusion will allow SK to manufacture quality breakthrough electric vehicle components at competitive prices for American OEMs,” it said.",{"type":652,"attrs":653,"content":655},"heading",{"level":654,"textAlign":49},4,[656],{"text":657,"type":585},"‘The Western world needs some time to catch up.’ ",{"type":580,"attrs":659,"content":660},{"textAlign":49},[661],{"text":662,"type":585},"There are only a handful of mines outside of China that produce natural flake graphite. According to Benchmark’s Natural Flake Graphite Forecast, China will produce over 700,000 tonnes of flake graphite in 2021, which accounts for 70% of global flake graphite production.",{"type":580,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":585},"“Significant localised supply of anode material will be required from a zero base,” Shaun Verner, chief executive of Syrah Resources, told Benchmark Week.",{"type":580,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":585},"Syrah Resources is building a plant to produce graphite anodes in Louisiana using graphite from their mine in Mozambique while Nouveau Monde Graphite also aims to produce graphite for batteries from an integrated facility in Quebec.",{"type":580,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":585},"“The western world needs some time to catch up to China but production is coming,” Julie Paquet, a vice president at Nouveau Monde Graphite, said.",{"type":580,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":585},"Last week the French company Imerys said it had sold its Lac des Iles graphite mine in Quebec as well as a mothballed mine in Namibia to Canadian company Northern Graphite for €40 million. The Lac des Iles mine is the only producing graphite mine in North America.",{"type":580,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686],{"text":687,"type":585},"The mine will produce up to 15,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually over the next three years, Northern Graphite said. It would look for opportunities to expand production, it added.",{"type":580,"attrs":689,"content":690},{"textAlign":49},[691],{"text":692,"type":585},"“We will be the only North American producer,” Greg Bowes, of Northern Graphite, said.",{"type":580,"attrs":694,"content":695},{"textAlign":49},[],{"type":652,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"level":654,"textAlign":49},[699],{"text":700,"type":585},"Demand for synthetic graphite set to reach 1.25 million tonnes by 2030",{"type":580,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":585},"While a few companies outside China produce synthetic graphite, their costs are much higher due to China’s supplies of needle coke feedstock, according to Manish Dua, senior analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.",{"type":580,"attrs":707,"content":708},{"textAlign":49},[709],{"text":710,"type":585},"In November, Australian-listed battery materials company, Novonix, started construction of its new synthetic graphite anode facility, near the VW assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a target capacity of 10,000 tonnes a year by 2023 and 40,000 tpa by 2025.",{"type":580,"attrs":712,"content":713},{"textAlign":49},[714],{"text":715,"type":585},"Chris Burns, managing director of Novonix, said this week the company would apply for some of the $6 billion available in President Biden’s US Infrastructure bill for the battery supply chain.",{"type":580,"attrs":717,"content":718},{"textAlign":49},[719],{"text":720,"type":585},"Demand for synthetic graphite in batteries is set to reach 1.25 million tonnes by 2030, Benchmark forecasts.",{"type":580,"attrs":722,"content":723},{"textAlign":49},[724],{"text":725,"type":585},"“It’s colossal growth and should really put a strain on graphite producers to scale to that level in that amount of time,” Miller said.","China’s dominance of the graphite market could pose problems for western automakers as demand for anode material is set to rise by over seven times this decade. Automakers will need to diversify their sources of graphite to reduce the risks of relying on one country for a critical battery material, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. […]",[728],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":729},{"job_title":571,"image":730,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"5ab6ff76-d67e-456f-a8bb-ea98893218c4\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[734,737],{"slug":735,"name":736},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":738,"name":739},"graphite","Graphite","private",{"id":49,"alt":742,"name":742,"focus":742,"title":742,"source":742,"filename":743,"copyright":742,"fieldtype":744,"meta_data":745,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/43842d30c1/bm-dsc-02181.jpg","asset",{"alt":742,"title":742,"source":742,"copyright":742},"Dec 10, 2021","10th December 2021",[],[],1792773931297]