To add to the narrative, only China uses natural graphite anode...

To add to the narrative, only China uses natural graphite anode materials and primary synthetic graphite powders are the main anode and cathode conductive additives. There are specific market reporting firms claiming the need for 2 - 3 million tonnes of new natural graphite supply to fill the battery demand, yet this week Tesla laid-off a large number of employees and slashed EV prices to address the drop in demand in China and North America. Does not match the natural graphite deficit narrative by any stretch of the imagination. If natural graphite is close to being short in supply, then why has only one large scale project been successfully funded using equity and none has completed any meaningful debt financing. Lending institutions are risk averse without documented sales history from a commercially producing project...which begs the question, the chicken or the egg scenario?

There are three projects that will be adding ~ 60,000 Mt of new natural graphite supply in 2024 and which will affect various ASTM Mesh grade prices including medium and fine fractions... stay tuned to witness the market reaction with the addition of new natural graphite supply to a market that is currently in supply / demand equilibrium / balanced status.