Strong development of flake graphite

Following the substantial increase in flake graphite price on August 23, 2017, the association made a second increase on September 1, 2017. At present, the association has decided to uniformly adjust the price of Jixi flake graphite to – 196 price of 5400 yuan/ton, – 195 price of 5200 yuan/ton, – 194 price of 5000 yuan/ton, – 193 price of 4400 yuan/ton, – 192 price of 4200 yuan/ton, – 191 price of 4100 yuan/ton and – 190 prices of 4000 yuan/ton, Other regular specification products have also been adjusted accordingly. The above prices are ex-factory tax-inclusive prices, simple packaging, and special packaging, which will be discussed separately.

On September 4, the mainstream price of – 195 flake graphite in Shandong was 5200-5600 yuan/ton, which increased by 1200 yuan/ton compared with the same period last month- 194. The mainstream quotation of flake graphite is 5000-5200 yuan/ton, which is 1300 yuan/ton higher than that of the same period last month- 193. The mainstream price of flake graphite is 4800-5000 yuan/ton, which is 1500 yuan/ton higher than that in the previous period.

The price of flake graphite seems to be on the “wind and fire wheel”, and the price rise seems to be the new normal.

How to treat the price rise of flake graphite?

With the promotion of environmental protection supervision, many flake graphite production enterprises were shut down. Due to the investment in environmental protection, the increase of production costs, the lack of ore, and the increase of other expenses, flake graphite rose again and again.

However, at the press conference on comprehensive air pollution control in autumn and winter in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and surrounding areas held on the morning of September 1, when answering reporters’ questions, the relevant person in charge of the environmental protection department responded that the rise in the price of bulk commodities (mass purchased and sold material commodities with commodity attributes for industrial and agricultural production and consumption) is determined by the supply and demand of the market and has nothing to do with environmental protection!

So, is the price rise of flake graphite a temporary impulse or a new normal driven by supply and demand?

Supply and demand analysis of flake graphite

Flake graphite is natural crystalline graphite, which looks like fish phosphorus. It belongs to a hexagonal crystal system and has a layered structure. It has good properties such as high-temperature resistance, conductivity, heat conduction, lubrication, plasticity, and acid and alkali resistance. It is widely used in metallurgy, electronics, light industry, military industry, national defense, aerospace, and refractory industries. It is an essential non-metallic raw material for today’s high and new technology.

For many years, China has been the country with the largest export of graphite primary products, accounting for about 50% of the world’s total export every year.

According to the customs information network, in the first half of 2017, China exported 164000 tons of natural graphite, a year-on-year increase of 54.26%. Among them, the total export volume of flake natural graphite was 71500 T, with a year-on-year increase of 38.63%, and the export amount was 45.366 million US dollars, with a year-on-year increase of 11.67%; The total export volume of spheroidized graphite was 18500 T, a year-on-year increase of 8.72%, and the export amount was the US $58.0928 million, a year-on-year decrease of 28.68%.

The import and export data has both advantages and disadvantages. It can not only explain the abundance of graphite resources in China but also reflect the improper protection of graphite resources in China. Because graphite is a nonrenewable resource, the new and greater potential market for graphite products is strategic emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, new-generation nuclear power plants, renewable energy, and electronic information. From the overall analysis of the international graphite market, the supply of crystalline graphite will exceed the demand in the future, and the gap of large flake crystalline graphite is still large.

Development prospect of flake graphite

Large flake graphite has wide application, high value, and high demand

Large flake graphite is more valuable than fine flake graphite. It is mainly reflected in:

In the economic value of flake graphite, the price of large flake graphite is dozens of times that of fine flake graphite at the same grade;

For the use of flake graphite, large flake graphite must be used to manufacture crucibles and expanded graphite, and fine-grained graphite cannot be used or is difficult to use; Among the raw materials for the preparation of graphene, large flake graphite is more conducive to the formation of graphene;

In terms of the properties of flake graphite, large flake graphite is better than fine flake graphite, such as lubricity. The larger the graphite flake, the lower the friction coefficient, and the better the lubricity;

In the production of flake graphite, except that large flake graphite is extracted from raw ore, modern industrial technology cannot produce and synthesize large flake graphite. Once the flake is damaged, it cannot be recovered, while fine flakes can be obtained by crushing large flakes;

In terms of reserves, the reserves of large flake graphite in China are low. In the separation process, due to the complex regrinding process, the graphite flakes are seriously damaged and the output is less, resulting in short supply in the market.

In terms of reserves, the reserves of large flake graphite in China are low. In the separation process, due to the complex regrinding process, the graphite flakes are seriously damaged and the output is less, resulting in short supply in the market.

New energy and new materials will become one of the application fields with the fastest growth of flake graphite consumption

“Among natural graphite, aphanitic graphite is the cheapest and is used to produce low-end graphite products. In the future, the consumption growth fields of graphite industry are mainly photovoltaic, semiconductor materials, lithium batteries, fuel cells, etc,” said Zhang Lingyan, a professor at the school of resources and environmental engineering of the Wuhan University of Technology.

In recent years, with the adjustment of China’s economic structure, the application trend of graphite gradually turns to the field of new energy and new materials is obvious. The consumption in other fields, including conductive materials (lithium batteries, fuel cells, etc.), oil additives, and fluorography, will increase significantly. It is expected that this proportion will exceed 25% in 2020.

Especially the investment of lithium-ion batteries will further stimulate the demand for flake graphite. For lithium-ion batteries, flake graphite can not only prolong the service time of the battery, promote stable voltage, enhance conductivity, but also reduce the cost of the battery. Therefore, flake graphite plays an important role in the battery. It is estimated that by 2020, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China will be at least 2 million. If 1 million vehicles use lithium-ion batteries, at least 50000 ~ 60000 tons of battery-grade graphite and 150000 ~ 180000 tons of flake graphite will be required. The world’s output of electric vehicles is expected to exceed 6 million, and it is estimated that 300000 ~ 360000 tons of battery-grade graphite and 900000 ~ 1080000 tons of flake graphite are required.

Preparation of expandable graphite

In addition to lithium-ion batteries, another area with the fastest growth in graphite consumption is expanded graphite materials. Expanded graphite is a new carbon material developed in recent ten years. It not only has the excellent characteristics of heat resistance, corrosion resistance, and self-lubrication of natural graphite but also has the properties of light, soft, compressible, and rebound that natural graphite does not have. Various belts, plates, and sheets pressed with expanded graphite have been widely used as dynamic and static seals in petroleum, chemical industry, electric power, metallurgy, medicine, food, machinery, and other industries, and have the advantages of low cost, low energy consumption, long service life, and good effect. The flexible graphite material processed from expanded graphite has good conductivity and thermal conductivity. It can be used to produce graphite sealing, heat dissipation materials, and fuel cells. It has a broad application field and market prospect.

Graphene

From a technical point of view, the recent (natural graphite based) isotropic graphite and high thermal conductivity materials are the integration of natural graphite industry and artificial carbon material industry; In the next 5 ~ 10 years or longer, with the development and maturity of graphene application technology, the preparation, and application of graphene may become a fast-growing market with broad prospects. Although it is still in its infancy and there are risks and uncertainties, from the perspective of scientific prediction, it is very likely to set off a subversive new technology and new industrial revolution sweeping the world. The industrialization of graphene materials will be another great progress of new carbon materials.

Whether the price rise of flake graphite is a temporary impulse or not, we should recognize the strategic position of flake graphite, especially large flake graphite. No matter whether flake graphite will continue to be high-priced and high-profile, its rapid development trend remains unchanged. To cope with the possible shortage of large flake graphite products in China in the future, on the one hand, China should appropriately strengthen geological exploration, on the other hand, adjust the graphite ore beneficiation process and strengthen the R & D of new graphite products to realize the localization of key technologies.