Great Lakes Graphite Inc GLKIF

RE:RE:Graphite Crunch...

[Futuristical]

No supply crunch at the moment but GLOBAL supply will drop 50-60% over the estimated time of 3-5 yrs. Then there's the issue of increased demand. The wording of the Stockhouse piece may seem ambiguous at first glance so perhaps this article will help clarify...

As a result of these trends which are backed by the new data, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence believes we have likely seen peak graphite supply in China.

However, the industry can expect the receding of supply to be a steady process which cuts output levels to between 50-60% of global production over the next 3-5 years.

https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/newsletters.html

Existing demand from steel is expected to continue with low growth rates of 1-3% a year, therefore the industry will look to the battery sector for the bulk of new demand which Benchmark expects to be anything from 5 to 10 times the growth seen in refractories.

And with three megafactories slated to come on-stream in the next three years, the question is will the natural graphite industry be able supply these new projects or will buyers will have to turn to its synthetic counterpart?

It also raises the point of where new supply will come from to satisfy existing growing markets let alone the emergence of a potentially huge market in batteries.

Regardless what the future holds, one thing is clear in the present: the days of low cost, abundant graphite from China are over.

Simon Moores
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
London