Graphite Demand for EV Sales has started to grow over the past few years, and is projected to accelerate going forward. The growth of natural graphite consumption reflects the expanding market for EV sales and Li-ion batteries.

Because of the requirement for high purity for batteries, part of the graphite used for Li-ion anodes is synthetic, manufactured from petroleum coke and pitch at high cost. 70% to 80% of the graphite used in
Li-ion batteries is natural flake graphite which must be milled and purified to a high quality.

Flake Graphite Consumption will uncouple from its dependency on steelmaking. Although the base use will always be for refractories, crucibles and foundry facings in the metal industries, Li-ion batteries will grow to be the dominant market for natural flake graphite.

According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the battery sector has grown from 9% to 18% of the market for graphite from 2012 to 2016, a doubling of the fraction over four years. Per Roskill, the battery market demand will exceed the refractory sector by 2022, and batteries will be nearly 50% of the overall demand for flake graphite.

Graphite Demand will undoubtedly increase as a result of the need for increased raw materials for EV batteries.

Projections by IEA, UBS and Roskill all support an increase demand over the next decade for EV batteries by factors of 10x to 40x, and this translates to markedly greater demand for natural graphite.