Flake Graphite
Size
0.01mm
Carbon Content
99%min
Package
25kg small bags into ton bags
Origin
China
Features
thermal shock resistance, lubricity, conductivity and plasticity…
Application
Lead battery plates positive and negative conductive agent, lithium batteries nickel hydrogen etc
Natural flake graphite has superior physical and chemical properties and is widely used in metallurgy, coatings and refractory industries. It is an important non-metallic raw material that is indispensable for today’s high-tech. Flake graphite is divided into large flake graphite and fine flake graphite according to the size of its scales. Usually, large flakes refer to +32 mesh, +50 mesh, +80 mesh, and +100 mesh flake graphite.
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Flake graphite is very popular at present, countries around the world are accelerating the transition from fuel cars to electric vehicles, and the rising demand for electric vehicles is driving up the demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, and flake graphite. The global battery industry will increase its demand for flake graphite by 30% annually until 2030, but flake graphite will start to face a shortage next year. China supplies 84 percent of the world’s flake graphite.
Although there are flake graphite deposits all over the world (Asia, Africa, North America, etc.). But flake graphite is not suitable for direct use in batteries and must be processed first. 100% of the processed flake graphite in the world comes from China, and currently, there is no capacity to process flake graphite outside of China.
The world is in the midst of an energy revolution, but China is at least a decade ahead of the West in its ability to produce batteries. Battery manufacturers need to set up supply chains to secure supplies of materials. It is one thing to set up battery factories; it is another to procure key supplies such as flake graphite.
The rise of new energy vehicles, the United States, the European Union countries, Australia for natural flake graphite resources has risen to a national strategic height. Western countries have long recognized the key role of flake graphite in energy transformation and environmental protection, are concerned about the proportion of flake graphite production capacity in China and have issued strategic policies to balance the impact of China. Although China is the largest flake graphite producer accounting for 62% of the world’s output, most enterprises are in the middle and lower reaches of the value chain, and the industrial advantage is not stable. At the same time, in China, natural flake graphite enterprises face strict control of environmental protection, labor cost doubled pressure; Abroad, rivals are racing to replace Chinese production capacity in three east African countries. To break out of the encirclement, Chinese flake graphite enterprises have entered East Africa in succession, and western enterprises are engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
In August 2016, Kibaran signed a five-year exclusive supply agreement with Japan’s Sojitz Corp. to supply at least 14,000 tons of natural Tanzanian flake graphite annually to Japan, South Korea, China, and the U.S.
In November 2019, Sierra Resources announced the first production of purified spherical flake graphite using natural flake graphite from Mozambique at its Vidalia battery Anode Material plant in Louisiana, USA. The company believes that this marks the first time it has established a large-scale, vertically integrated natural flake graphite anode material production facility outside of China and is an important step in replacing Chinese suppliers; Once scaled up, the plant will be able to supply battery-grade flake graphite to electric vehicle manufacturers and battery manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe.
EcoGraf Limited (Egr. AX) successfully raised $3.79 million in June 2020 to build a flake graphite processing facility in Western Australia. The base uses Tanzanian flake graphite ore to make battery electrodes, which it supplies to German tech giant ThyssenKrupp (DKA.DF). Scheduled to start production as early as 2022, the facility could supply ThyssenKrupp with more than 10,000 tons of flake graphite electrodes a year, enough to produce batteries for 370,000 electric vehicles. The company claims that its process does not use acid detergents, so its production costs will be lower than those of Chinese competitors.
In November 2021, South Korea’s largest steel company POSCO (005490. KS) announced the acquisition of a 15% stake in Black Rock Mining for $7.5 million to participate in the development of the Mahengai flake graphite mine in Tanzania and will purchase 35,000 tons of flake graphite from the mine every year in the future. Posco plans to build a complete industrial chain from raw material procurement to battery material production to become the world’s leading producer of battery materials for electric vehicles by 2030.
In September 2017, Jixibeitri, a subsidiary of China’s leading lithium battery material company Beitri (835184. BJ), signed a sales agreement with Xila Resources to sell 30,000 tons of flake graphite produced in the first year of the Balama project.
In February 2019, Amador Capital announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Mattress Group on flake graphite products from the former Maheng Gai Liandu project, agreeing on a purchase order of 30,000 tons/year of flake graphite concentrate for the first five years, accounting for 60% of the projected annual output of the project.
In August 2021, China Dalian Taihe Suer Logistics Management Co., Ltd. and Qingdao Yujinxi New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. respectively signed flake graphite offtake agreements with Blackrock Mining. Under the offtake agreement, Black Rock mining will supply at least 20, 000 tonnes of flake graphite concentrate from The Mahengai flake graphite mine in Tanzania to Taihesuer Logistics and 10, 000 tonnes to Yujinxi New Energy each year for three years.
In November 2021, Yichang Xincheng flake graphite and Australia’s Triton Minerals, Ton.AX signed a five-year procurement contract, will buy 10,000 tons of flake graphite produced from Mozambique’s Ancuabe mining area from the latter each year, can be renewed for five years to buy another 50,000 tons.
In the face of an unfavorable living environment in China, Chinese natural flake graphite enterprises boldly go out to purchase and invest in minerals in East Africa, showing extraordinary resilience and flexibility. China, however, as a global power flake graphite reserves, should make full use of its resources, improve the flake graphite mining and processing technology, to get Chinese flake graphite products to do first, at the same time, China’s flake graphite in the mining process should pay attention to the protection of the environment, to minimize the impact on the environment, correctly identifying, understanding and guard against all kinds of major risk, Is the guarantee of the long-term success of Chinese flake graphite enterprises.
