K! I have been in graphite consulting for many years and I do not have any stake in SYR, so I have not engaged or contacted them. It has been a challenge in combating the misinformation and "over hype" of high production graphite projects where 99% are managed by teams from bulk industrial minerals, including iron ore, so their bulk metric mentality drives the narrative of quantity / low prices over quality. this is very evident in all the reports from SYR. SYR's entire focus has been on the Chinese market (less barriers to entry / less qualifications) focusing mainly on SPG precursor production. And when so called expert predictions of super EV sales around the world did not meet expectations, forced SYR to take the low road by undercutting fines prices by 50% or more just to meet their over the top production narratives of 300,000 MT + per annum! Not sustainable, not profitable, and undermines the goals and expectations of the market and the investment community. Many investors demand and expect a management team to consider all factors when making commercial and sustainable decisions for a company.
Natural graphite is an industrial mineral, but can more accurately described as a technical mineral do to its metallurgical complexity and uses from refractories to medical device to graphene. I do not know of any bulk industrial mineral that can be assessed in the same narrative.
There are no offtakes in graphite as ALL graphite has to be qualified both in an end user's lab and at the commercial level before any shipments can take place. The majority of bulk industrial minerals are shipped as contained ore or semi processed ore to end users who have the capability to process the ore into a finished product. NO end user in the world today can or will purchase graphite contained ore and process it themselves into finished concentrate, hence why end users rely on the quality and consistency of commercially produced natural flake graphite. No end user will sign or commit to ANY truly financially binding offtake agreement when natural flake graphite is abundantly available around the world.
Ask yourself this question, why in the world would any end user tie up millions in working capital on the potential a flake graphite operation that may or may not reach commercial operation? If the operation fails to reach commercial production, then the end user would loose ALL of their investment. All of the so called offtakes described today do not achieved millions in up front capital, have multiple escape clauses, and the specific graphite project has to reach commercial production before any further commercial qualifications or supply discussions will take place. No bank, private debt institution ,or financier will ever consider any funding on the modified offtakes (MOU's) taunted by the many projects today. To my knowledge, there has not been one successful project financing through debt for any new project to date.
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