Synthetic Graphite Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Worldwide Escalating Demand for Electric Vehicles – The demand for electric vehicles is rapidly increasing. People are switching to electric vehicles owing to the advantages of green energy and higher performance. Furthermore, there is a rising need to reduce reliance on imported oil and the exhaustion of fossil fuels. The lithium-ion batteries are gaining more popularity as of the surge in the adoption of electric vehicles. Hence, the upsurge in electric vehicles is projected to spur market growth in the coming years. For instance, the worldwide ratio of on-road electric vehicles surged by more than 10 million in 2021.

• Increasing Production of Graphite Electrodes - Graphite electrodes are huge cylindrical structures typically made of petroleum coke, needle coke, and coal bitumen as a binder. Calcination, compounding, kneading, pressing, roasting, graphitization, and machining all techniques are used to make electrodes. The electrical energy from the power source is transferred through graphite electrodes to the steel melt in the EAF solution in the making of steel and other non-ferrous metals. Therefore, the extensive use of these electrodes in steel and metals production is estimated to fuel the market growth during the forecast period. For instance, worldwide production of graphite electrodes surged by around 720,108 metric tons in 2019, and this proportion is estimated to rise to around 799,500 metric tons by 2024.

• Rising Demand and Production of Lubricants - A lubricant is a liquid that is used to ease the relative motion of solid structures by reducing wear and friction between surfaces in contact. Synthetic graphite is highly used in the production of lubricants. Since to its distinctive structural properties, graphite can be used in commercial and industrial lubricants. Graphite is made up of different layers that are only loosely adhered together, allowing the layers to easily slip past one another and settle on a contact surface. The growing count of vehicles is fueling the demand for lubricants, and such increased demand is providing a huge market expansion to synthetic graphite. For instance, the net production of lubricants in refineries in the United States reached nearly 167 thousand barrels per day in 2021, a boost of almost 10.8 percent over the previous year.

• An Upsurge in the Demand for Consumer Electronic Products – A surge in the demand for numerous consumer electronic products is also estimated to propel the growth of the synthetic graphite market as graphite has been used in the production of long-life rechargeable batteries of the electronic products comprising smartphones, tablets, laptops, and so on. For instance, worldwide shipments of desktops, laptops, and workstations increased by nearly 1% annually in 2021 to approximately 93 million units, up from 91 million in the previous year.

• Rising Usage of Graphite in Green Energy Technologies – The adoption of green energy is radically rising throughout the world as of its topmost advantage of net zero emission. Graphite has been utilized in green energy technologies such as wind energy, along with the surge in the installation of solar panels. Hence, this factor is also projected to drive market growth. For instance, in 2021, solar panels were installed on about 65,560 homes in the United Kingdom, an increase of around 72% from 2020. Thus, the total number of homes with solar panel installation has already surpassed around 1.6 million.

Challenges

• High Cost of Production of Graphite - Despite the wide-scale application of synthetic graphite, a high cost of production is associated with synthetic graphite as compared to naturally occurring graphite which may negatively affect the market growth. Hence, this factor is anticipated to lower the market growth in the coming years.
• Stringent Regulations for Manufacturing Synthetic Graphite
• Risk of Health Issues Associated with Exposure to Graphite