Update from President - Looming Graphite Shortages On Friday October 20, 2023, the Chinese government announced stricter rules on the export of certain categories of graphite. In particular, this will have a potentially negative impact on the supply of anode-grade graphite for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium-Ion-Batteries are the batteries propelling most electric vehicles. Government regulations and consumer pressure have resulted in strong demand for EVs, but demand is projected to accelerate significantly, with more than 30 million EVs projected to be sold annually by 2030 and over 45 million new EVs annually by 2045.
While much attention recently has gone to lithium, as Figure 1 below shows, graphite, by weight, actually is the largest constituent of these batteries. On average, each new EV hitting the roads comes with around 160 lbs of graphite.
Figure 1: Mineral constituents of an LIB
In 2030, if all EVs were to use graphite based anodes, this would equate to some 4.8 million tonnes of anode-quality graphite needed. For 2045 this number goes up to 7.2 million tonnes. With global graphite production at in 2022 standing at ~1.3 million tonnes, it is clear that new mines are needed to meet projected demand. Figure 2 below shows projected shortage in graphite supply, and Benchmark Source, a major supply chain consultancy and research firm, projects that 97 new graphite mines are needed to meet demand. read more: Update from President - Green Battery Minerals