What do China’s export restrictions mean for graphite?

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

This month China’s Ministry of Commerce announced restrictions on the export of graphite to the US.Stricter end-user and end-use reviews will be implemented immediately on graphite, it said, in order to prevent the export of graphite for military uses.China said it was “in order to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation.” But what does this mean for the graphite market? In this video Benchmark analyst Tony Alderson explains the significance of the move. China boasts a dominant position in the global graphite industry. The country accounts for over 70% of flake graphite and nearly 80% of synthetic graphite production globally. The imbalance is more pronounced for value-added products such as spherical graphite and anode active material where China controls more than 90% of global production.