Year end inventory of flake graphite

In 2022, the domestic flake graphite market pattern changes significantly compared with that of last year, mainly in the following aspects:

Under the outbreak of the global epidemic in 2022, the domestic flake graphite production has not declined but increased significantly compared with last year. By the end of December, the total output of flake graphite, China is expected to increase by 14.4% year on year, according to Xinluo information.

In 2022, domestic flake graphite import and export trade will return to the surplus pattern. According to the statistics of Xinluo information, the total import volume of domestic flake graphite is about 17600 tons, the total export volume is about 97100 tons, and the net import volume is – 79500 tons.

In 2022, the industrialization, scale, and industry concentration of domestic flake graphite will be higher and higher. In 2022, policy support for the graphite industry in Heilongjiang Province will be strengthened to promote the local graphite output, accounting for 82.6% of the total graphite output in China. At the same time, Heilongjiang Province will be developing in the direction of large-scale and integration of graphite industry. In the future, Heilongjiang Province will become a major supply and demand province of domestic natural graphite.

In 2022, the market of different specifications of domestic flake graphite products will be differentiated. Affected by the outbreak of the global epidemic, the traditional downstream demand of domestic flake graphite will weaken in 2022, and the price of low and medium specification products will decline significantly; However, the strong demand of new energy industry and other emerging fields supported the price of high-purity graphite, especially the price of high-carbon products increased significantly.

In 2022, the output of domestic flake graphite will increase by about 14.4% on a year-on-year basis

In 2022, Minmetals Group will accelerate the progress of integrating high-quality graphite resources in Lumber. In this year, it is estimated that the mining capacity of graphite ore will reach 4 million tons, with a year-on-year growth of nearly 45%. In addition, the grade of graphite ore will be improved, which will drive the output of graphite in Luobei to about 350000 tons, with a year-on-year growth of about 40%.

In 2022, under the dual constraints of high cost and environmental protection, the mining of flake graphite ore in Qingdao will be basically stopped, and the operation of plants in Gansu will be unstable, with a reduction compared with last year.

According to the overall statistics, in 2022, the domestic flake graphite output will be about 1.35 million tons, with a year-on-year increase of about 14.4%, but the scale graphite output will increase significantly, with a year-on-year increase of more than 40%.

Domestic flake graphite import and export trade will return to the surplus pattern in 2022

In 2022, due to the impact of the global epidemic, the new overseas graphite mines could not be put into production, and Syrah’s Graphite mines in Mozambique were shut down throughout the year, resulting in a sharp drop in domestic flake graphite imports. According to the statistics of Xinluo information, the total domestic flake graphite imports in 2020 were about 17600 tons, a sharp drop of 90.85% year on year.

In 2022, affected by the outbreak of an overseas epidemic, the export volume of domestic flake graphite will also decline. According to the statistics of Xinsuo information, the total export volume of domestic flake graphite 2022 will be about 97100 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 15.04%, and the annual net import volume will be about – 79500 tons. The domestic flake graphite will return to a favorable situation again.

Domestic flake graphite product specification differentiation in 2022

In the first half of 2022, the traditional downstream demand for domestic flake graphite weakened, and the prices of middle and low-end products continued to decline. It was not until September when the overseas demand increased, the early inventory of the downstream was exhausted, and gradually entered the period of preparation that the domestic flake graphite prices rose. By the end of December, the domestic – 195 scale graphite had dropped by 300 yuan/ton in total in the year, with a year-on-year average price drop of 8.33%.

On the other hand, due to the sharp decline of import volume, the domestic terminal demand for expanded graphite is good, and the expansion graphite production capacity growth, the supply of 895 and 595 flake graphite is in short supply, which stimulates the market negotiation price to rise steadily compared with the end of 2019, with an increase of about 300 yuan/ton by the end of December, which is the same as the average price of 2021.

In general, under the change of domestic flake graphite supply and demand situation in 2022, the market will be close to the trend of scale and industrialization. It is expected that the domestic flake graphite production will continue to increase in 20201, the import volume may increase, the demand proportion of downstream emerging areas will continue to grow, and the demand of traditional areas will gradually decline.