The demand for natural graphite is expected to increase rapidly with the new technology advancements and the natural-for-synthetic displacement potential is very high.
China continues to be the major supplier to the world for graphite with around 70% of total natural supply, but is also a net importer with growing consumption needs in their industry. Given environmental concerns, consistency issues and marginal economics on the majority of their lower quality natural graphite mines, some operations are being shut down or consolidated and further closures to Chinese graphite mines are expected.