Global graphite short-term outlook April 2024

Prices for fine-size flake graphite continued to slide in April, but the damage was nowhere near as bad as earlier this year. This may be short-term respite, however, with weak demand from traditional, industrial sectors and weakening support for the Chinese export market as licenses slowly continue to be approved. Needle coke prices did not reacted as strongly as expected to higher oil prices, meaning that synthetic alternatives in battery applications will remain highly competitive to natural graphite. New capacity in China will keep price rises low, but we believe they are still necessary in the long term for plants to remain in the black. Graphite electrodes are struggling as a result of the sluggish global steel market, particularly in China.