Graphite Market Overview

The global graphite market is expected to generate a revenue of $19.05 billion by 2020 and progressing at a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period. The high demand of graphite in the lithium-ion batteries and automotive industry are the two major factors to increase the demand of graphite in the market.

On the basis of graphite form, the graphite market is divided into two types, Natural and Synthetic. More than 90% market share is projected of Synthetic graphite by 2020 as it as largest market share throughout the historical period.

GLOBAL GRAPHITE MARKET SHARE BY REGION, BASED ON VOLUME (2014 AND 2020)

This prospective market share is ascribed to its higher purity, consistency and strength compared to natural graphite. The usage of synthetic graphite is more as compare to natural graphite due to its higher reliability.

Based on the application, the graphite market is segmented into electrode, lubricant, battery, refractory, foundry and others. Among these, electrode segment is expected to be the highest demand generating application area of graphite, by contributing more than 30% market share by 2020. The demand of graphite as electrode is increasing in the forecast period and the major reason is the increase in electric arc furnace steel production.

In terms of geography, Asia-Pacific is the high demand generating market of graphite, and is projected to be the huge market in the forecast period. This significant market share is ascribed to the increase in adoption of technologically advanced applications of graphite, such as pebble-bed nuclear reactors (PBR), fuel cells, solar power systems, aerospace and automotive industries. In addition, India and China are the two major markets for graphite in the region.

Graphite Market Dynamics

Trend

The major trend in the graphite market is the increasing demand for graphite from pebble-bed nuclear reactor. Pebble-bed nuclear reactor is a modular reactor which use graphite spheres to carry uranium fuel and gas cooling systems. In addition, nuclear reactors are efficient and cooler naturally when they are closed. Large amount of graphite is used to operation nuclear reactors. For instance, in China, the first prototype of this reactor started its operations in 2015 with a plan to build around 30 new pebble-bed nuclear reactors by 2020. These trend in the pebble-bed nuclear reactor market, is expected to generate high demand in the forecast period.

Driver

The key driver of the graphite market is the growing use of graphite as an electrode in lithium-ion batteries. Additionally, the use of graphite as an electrode in batteries has been expanding on year-on-year basis. Most of the graphite used in the lithium-ion batteries, wherein graphite accounted for the 50% of total lithium-ion battery weight. Thus, the growing lithium-ion batteries in power tools, tablets, cell phones, portable workstations, and versatile media players is likely to boost the graphite market in the forthcoming years.

Graphite Market Competitive Landscape

Graphite market is high competitive in nature with the presence of several regional and global players. Syrah Resources, Energizer Resources Inc., Mason Graphite Inc., Triton Minerals Limited, and Northern Graphite Corp are major players which have the largest graphite resources. Most of these players depend on the investors to finance their various operations such as production and sales at their investigation sites and buying of various equipment.

The major market players in the global graphite market are Nippon Graphite Industries Co. Ltd., Northern Graphite Corporation, Asbury Graphite Mills Inc, Energizer Resources Inc., Lamboo Resources Ltd, Triton Minerals Ltd., Focus Graphite Inc., Alabama Graphite Corp., Mason Graphite, Flinders Resources Ltd, Syrah Resources Ltd, Graphite India Ltd, GrafTech International Holdings Inc, Showa Denko K.K., SGL Carbon SE, and Tokai Carbon Co. Limited.

Key Questions Answered: