extract from latest USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2016. ......

GRAPHITE (NATURAL)
Events, Trends, and Issues: Worldwide demand for graphite has increased steadily since 2012 and into 2015. This increase resulted from the improvement of global economic conditions and its impact on industries that use graphite.

Principal import sources of natural graphite were, in descending order of tonnage, China, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Madagascar, which combined, accounted for 97% of the tonnage and 91% of the value of total imports. Mexico provided all of the amorphous graphite, and Sri Lanka provided all of the lump and chippy dust variety. China, Canada, and Madagascar were, in descending order of tonnage, the major suppliers of crystalline flake and flake dust graphite.

During 2015, China produced 66% of the world’s graphite and consumed 35%. North America produced 5% of the world’s graphite supply, with production only in Canada and Mexico. Although no production of natural graphite was reported in the United States, two companies were exploring for and developing graphite projects in the United States. Alabama Graphite Corp. was developing the Coosa Graphite Project in Alabama, and Graphite One Resources Inc. was developing the Graphite Creek Project in Alaska.

One U.S. automaker was building a large plant to manufacture lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries. The plant’s completion was expected by 2020, and it would require 93,000 tons of flake graphite for use as anode material.

Advances in thermal technology and acid-leaching techniques that enable the production of higher purity graphite powders are likely to lead to development of new applications for graphite in high-technology fields. Such innovative refining techniques have enabled the use of improved graphite in carbon-graphite composites, electronics, foils,friction materials, and special lubricant applications. Flexible graphite product lines, such as graphoil (a thin graphite cloth), are likely to be the fastest growing market. Large-scale fuel-cell applications are being developed that could consume as much graphite as all other uses combined.

World Mine Production and Reserves: The reserves data for Brazil and Turkey were revised based on new information reported by those countries’ Governments.

Mine production Reserves2 (see link for table/figures)

World Resources: Domestic resources of graphite are relatively small, but the rest of the world’s inferred resources exceed 800 million tons of recoverable graphite.

Substitutes:

Synthetic graphite powder, scrap from discarded machined shapes, and calcined petroleum coke compete for use in iron and steel production. Synthetic graphite powder and secondary synthetic graphite from machining graphite shapes compete for use in battery applications. Finely ground coke with olivine is a potential competitor in foundry facing applications. Molybdenum disulfide competes as a dry lubricant but is more sensitive to
oxidizing conditions.

GRAPHITE (NATURAL)
(Data in thousand metric tons unless otherwise noted)
Domestic Production and Use: Although natural graphite was not produced in the United States in 2015, approximately 90 U.S. firms, primarily in the Northeastern and Great Lakes regions, consumed 54,400 tons valued at $50.7 million. The major uses of natural graphite in 2015 were brake linings, foundry operations, lubricants, refractory applications, and steelmaking. During 2015, U.S. natural graphite imports were 65,900 tons, which were 65% flake and high-purity, 34% amorphous graphite, and 1% lump and chip

Recycling: Refractory brick and linings, alumina-graphite refractories for continuous metal castings, magnesia graphite
refractory brick for basic oxygen and electric arc furnaces, and insulation brick were the leading sources of recycled graphite products. The market for recycled refractory graphite material is growing, with material being reused in products such as brake linings and thermal insulation.

Recovering high-quality flake graphite from steelmaking kish, a mixture of graphite, desulfurization slag, and iron, is
technically feasible, but not practiced at the present time because it is not economical. The abundance of graphite in
the world market inhibits increased recycling efforts. Information on the quantity and value of recycled graphite is not
available.

Import Sources (2011–14): China, 38%; Mexico, 32%; Canada, 18%; Brazil, 6%; and other, 6%