China places price pressure on flake graphite fine China places price pressure on flake graphite fines
By ANDY MILLER
Published: Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Flake fines price seeing increased downward pressure as larger mesh continues to hold
Excess supply of finer mesh flake
graphite from China is suppressing prices
and causing greater variation in the value
of similar purity products.
In mid-2012 the difference between 94-
97% C, + 80 mesh and 94-97% C, -100
mesh was as little as 15% (or
$250/tonne), however by the start of 2013
this gap was 68% (view comparison
here).
As price disparity becomes ever more
dependent on mesh size, the influence of
purity on price seems to have had a
diminishing effect since the start of the
year.
With IM Data sources reporting a
recovery in prices of lower purity flake
grades into Europe, the difference
between 85-87% C and 94-97% C could
now be below $400/tonne for +100 mesh
material and larger.
This is thought to have been driven by an
excess supply of smaller mesh material
out of China which has stepped up
production since February’s Spring
Festival despite the absence of greater
demand.
The global stagnation in steel output has
resulted in more finer mesh graphite on
the market.
Greater resilience for larger mesh
Large flake natural graphite (> +80 mesh) serves both traditional and emerging
industries. Although refractories remain the largest end market for all types of flake
graphite, the application of larger flake grades in high end markets has somewhat
insulated the coarser mesh sizes from fluctuations in the steel industry.
Price drops across larger mesh products have been reported out of China and into
Europe, however as per the industry’s traditional price parameters, the value of
lower purity grades have fallen more than higher purity on the whole.
Chinese prices have continued a downward trend since marginal decreases were
reported by IM Data last month. Sources claim prices of Flake, 94-97% C, +80
Mesh, FCL, FOB, Qingdao, China could have slipped below $1,350 on our price-ofthe-
moment basis.