Media Reports, page-2410

So the drop in demand for natural isn’t an inventory stockpile issue, is due to synthetic replacing natural - There might have been a stockpile in the first 2 months of the year but not anymore. Graphite by weight is the largest component in a LiB and would be hard to stockpile due to the quantity.

Is synthetic replicating natural more than we think?? - No

What is going on atm is very complicated. This is the short version. There is an almighty EV price war going on. Currently, synthetic is cheaper than natural (refer to the price chart in the last SYR quarterly) and whether the Chinese synthetic producers are making money is debatable.

China manufactures 75% of batteries and 60% of EV's are sold in China. I think the US and Europeans apart from France just recently, are turning a blind eye on the ESG credentials of the imported batteries and EV's from China until they get their own battery and material manufacturing capabilities out of low gear starting from next year to de-risk their supply chains. It is easier to regulate what goes into a battery manufactured in your own country.

The US, EU and China also have electricity shortages. They all experience black and brown outs. China actually shuts down industries including banning bitcoin mining. It seems incredulous you'd produce more and more EV's requiring more and more electricity using synthetic which requires 3-4x more power than natural graphite.

They only produced 10m EV's last year and expect to produce 50m by 2030 by which time you'll have ~200m on the roads.