There hasn't really been any significant evidence as of yet, to determine the sentiment of EV makers or large lithium battery makers, towards sourcing supply of Natural graphite outside of China. Yes, there has been some speculation and interest for concentrate from third-party companies who in my opinion, have signed offtakes which dont really guarantee any minimum purchase as a 'sales-agreement' would. They are actually pre-production offtakes which and heavily subjected to non-committal conditions and clauses which heavily de-risks both parties but does not fit well with financiers, banks or large equity investors.
Until we see some solid evidence and sentiment of assurance from these end-users (not traders or refractory-users who do not actually sign sales-contracts but pre-production offtakes).... the market will remain volatile. Ofcourse, all graphite companies arent the same. Each have their own strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments, management, purity, cost, processing and performance, battery testing etc. However, none have really been able to provide evidence of the actual demand for Natural graphite outside of China nor the actually sentiment of end users in particular, EV makers and large lithium battery manufacturers.
Taking this into consideration, when these large end users do commit and take the leap to start sourcing Natural graphite outside of China, MNS are in the best position and by miles.
MNS exceeds every company with the core fundamentals of natural graphite for lithium batteries and would easily offer a much better solution to Synthetic graphite and Natural graphite from China. This is why MNS is valued at $300m market cap.
The question we should be asking is not, IF MNS can get an offtake or secure a sales-agreement with an end-users or battery makers, the question is, when will we see this confidence and evidence from large end users towards switching and agreeing to purchasing large tonnage of spherical graphite from a non-Chinese mine and also their actual sentiment towards shifting from Synthetic graphite to Natural.
Hence to TJ's point, the graphite market is maybe a little spooked but perhaps more just impatiently waiting for reassurance and significant evidence from end users towards changing supply chains to a company outside of China and towards shifting to Natural from Synthetic and not from just MNS (who if I may say are in the best position) but from any graphite mine really, outside of China.
Regarding the share price, in addition to the above, there's also a non-related, but important consideration that option holders are converting which is adding some pressure to the fully paid shares.
I dont think its If but when....and MNS is door number 1. Thats a no brainer.
Frustrating times but certainly worth the wait.
cheers
@tobyjack thanks for your great posts! Hope all is well.
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