my point is that with several mines coming into and/or expanding...

my point is that with several mines coming into and/or expanding production in the near term, global supply will increase even if it is already spoken for by individual offtakers. It seem logical then that this will reduce the need for new mines to come into production in the near to mid term.

Also those companies which have recently entered into offtake arrangements with the new mines, now drop out of the pool of potential credible off take partners, which in turn makes it harder for unfunded projects to find a credible offtake partner which is a condition for most providers of project finance.

However, the impact of the imminent increase in global supply I expect will be offset to some degree by the increasing proportion of natural graphite used in battery anode. How much the new anode demand increases and whether the timing of the need for another new mine is difficult to forecast with certainty.

Certainly product qualification is, as you point out, required for graphite bought for use in anode which does give BAT an edge over some peers, but my understanding is that qualification is not required for refractories, foundaries, lubricants etc. but happy to be corrected.