Artificial Graphite - The Global Market For Graphite Anodes For Lithium-Ion Batteries
Graphite is a hard, silvery grey to black mineral that has high resistance to heat and offers excellent lubrication and electrical conductivity. It is used in a wide range of metallurgical applications such as electrodes, refractories, monolithic crucibles, and others. The global market for artificial graphite is projected to grow significantly due to growing demand from the lithium-ion battery industry.
In 2021, artificial graphite was the world’s 640th most traded product, with total trade value of $3.2B. The top exporters of this product were China ($1.39B), Japan ($262M), Germany ($207M) and South Korea ($167M).
Synthetic graphite is made from the thermal decomposition of amorphous carbon materials such as petroleum coke (pitch coke from coal tar) or natural graphite. During this process, the material is graphitized at very high temperatures in order to get high-purity synthetic graphite.
The major applications of this product are metallurgy and batteries. The graphite anode for lithium-ion batteries is a key application and is expected to grow significantly as the electric vehicle (EV) market grows. Natural graphite has superior Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials compared to its synthetic alternative, so it is the preferred choice for many EV manufacturers.
Currently, about 14% of the graphite anode market is sourced from natural graphite and 78% from synthetic. However, as Europe’s decarbonization efforts gather momentum and battery megafactories in the region are built, more EV anodes will be produced using natural graphite. This is because natural graphite has a lower carbon footprint as its production does not require heavy graphitization which is dependent on fossil fuels and produces significant carbon emissions.
