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“Only a few graphite flake miners are still in normal production due to the low flake fine prices, which directly slashes the output of large graphite flakes,” a market participant said.
Output of graphite flake fines in China accounts for approximately 85% of the total crystalline graphite production, while the output of all the large graphite flakes accounts for 15%, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for graphite flake 94% C, -100 mesh (-194), fob China was $450-470 per tonne on Thursday October 31, unchanged from a week earlier but down by 17% from $530-577 per tonne on January 4.
A producer source told Fastmarkets that only a few deals of -194 products have been concluded in recent days, as most downstream buyers already have sufficient stocks.
China’s spherical graphite, which is a major downstream product of graphite flake fines, is also faced with weak demand and muted liquidity, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of graphite spherical 99.95% C, 15 microns, fob China was $1,700-2,000 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged from a week earlier.
The suspension of operations in northern China due to winter is also expected to lead to further tightness in supply, sources said, with one source adding that some specifications of their large graphite flakes are already out of stock.
“We did have some inquiries for these products recently but we were unable to provide exact offer prices because we did not have any in our warehouse,” the source said.
The supply tightness has also weighed on liquidity in the spot market for large graphite flakes, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ assessment for graphite flake 94% C, +100 mesh (+194), fob China was $988-1,050 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged from a week earlier.
Fastmarkets’ assessment for graphite flake 94% C, +80 mesh (+894), fob China was $1,132-1,150 per tonne on Thursday, narrowing downward by $50 per tonne from $1,132-1,200 per tonne a week earlier.
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