Market Insights
Graphite has two principal types: Synthetic Graphite and Natural Graphite. They have their own set of applications and generally do not compete with each other. They have no relationship with each other except the name graphite.
Synthetic graphite is a man-made substance manufactured by high temperature treatment (2,500 to 3,000 degree Celsius) of amorphous carbon materials. Synthetic graphite has four types; electrode, block, powder, and fiber. The largest type of the synthetic graphite is graphite electrode that is predominately used in producing electric arc furnaces for melting steel & iron and producing alloys.
Synthetic graphite blocks are produced from isostatic, extruded, die molded, and vibration molded process. Synthetic blocks are used in a large variety of applications ranging from polysilicon production for photovoltaic industry to high temperature reactors in nuclear industry. Most of the leading companies are heavily investing in China to meet the local demand. Despite significant capacity expansion by local as well as international players in the last ten years, some portion of synthetic graphite demand is met through import.
Carbon fiber offers high specific strength, light weighting, good fatigue strength, and excellent corrosion resistance than the competing materials, which makes it a preferred material in the high performance applications. High focus on fuel efficiency, low carbon emission, weight reduction, comfort and passenger safety, and government regulations, such as CAFÉ standards are driving the increasing penetration of carbon composite structures in aerospace & defense, automotive, and wind energy segments. Carbon fiber is likely to experience double digit growth in the next five years.
The second type, natural graphite, is a form of carbon where atoms are arranged in the layers that have weak bonds between each other. It is subdivided into three types: Amorphous, Flake, and Vein. Natural graphite production is mainly from small underground mines in China. China is the world's largest producer of natural graphite for both amorphous and flake graphite, and accounts for more than 65% of total global natural graphite production. Approximately 70% of Chinese production is amorphous graphite while 30% is natural flake. The majority of Chinese graphite mines are small and many are seasonal. Other countries with good natural graphite production include Brazil, North Korea, Canada, India, Romania, Ukraine, Mexico, Madagascar, Austria, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the only country that produces high quality vein graphite.
The graphite market offers a robust growth opportunity during the forecast period of 2020 to 2025. Synthetic graphite market is likely to remain the largest graphite type during the forecast period, driven by demand of electrodes, blocks and carbon fibers. Natural graphite is expected to experience an overall higher growth than synthetic graphite in the next five years.
Key Players
Some of the key manufacturers in the graphite materials market are -
- SGL Carbon SE
- Tokai Carbon
- Toray Industries
- Toho Tenax
- Mistubishi Rayon
- GrafTech International Holdings Inc
- South Graphite
- Nacional de Grafite
- Mersen Group
- Graphite India
- Nippon Graphite Industries
- Asbury Graphite Mills
- Focus Graphite.
New product development, regional expansion, and capacity expansion are the key strategies adopted by the key players to gain a competitive edge in the market.
Segment Analysis
By Application Type
Currently, refractory is the largest application of natural graphite. However, it has continuously lost market share during 2014-2019 and is expected to lose further in the next five years. The decline is due to the reduced demand for refractories from the steel industry and slower economic growth in China.
The battery is currently the hot topic in the graphite market. All of the major graphite producers are discussing the growth potential of graphite in the batteries for the automotive and other industries, such as consumer goods. Battery is an application where both natural and synthetic graphite are used and truly compete with each other. There will be a continuous shift in the graphite market away from amorphous natural graphite towards flake and synthetic graphite as emerging applications like batteries typically require large flake and high-purity grades.
During the forecast period, refractory and electrodes are expected to remain the largest applications for natural graphite and synthetic graphite markets respectively. Battery is expected to experience the fastest growth with a double-digit growth rate in the next five years.
Regional Insights
Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the growth engine of the global graphite materials market. Emerging economies, such as China and India will drive both synthetic as well as natural graphite market over the next five years.
Segmentation
This report studies the market covering a period of 12 years of trend and forecast. The report provides detailed insights into the market dynamics to enable informed business decision-making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.
The graphite materials market is segmented into the following categories:
By Form
- Electrode
- Block
- Powder
- Carbon Fiber
- Flake
- Amorphous
- Vein
- Others
By Application Type
- Electrode
- Refractory
- Lubricants
- Foundry
- Battery
- Frictional Products
- Parts and components
- Others
By End Use Industry
- Metal
- Aerospace & Defense
- Automotive
- Photovoltaic
- Electricals & Electronics
- Industrial
- Others
By Sales Channel
- Direct Sales
- Distributors
By Region
- North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico),
- Europe (Country Analysis: Germany, France, The UK, Russia, and the Rest of Europe),
- Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, India, Australia, South Korea, and the Rest of Asia-Pacific),
- Rest of the World (Country Analysis: Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Others).
Research Methodology
For calculating the market size, our analysts follow either a Top-Bottom or Bottom-Top approach or both, depending upon the complexity or availability of the data points. Our reports offer high-quality insights and are the outcome of a detailed research methodology comprising extensive secondary research, rigorous primary interviews with industry stakeholders, and validation and triangulation with Stratview Research’s internal database and statistical tools. We leverage the multitude of authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, government sources, trade associations, journals, investor presentations, white papers, and articles to gather the data. More than 10 detailed primary interviews with the market players across the value chain in all four regions and industry experts are usually executed to obtain both qualitative and quantitative insights.
Report Features
This report, from Stratview Research, studies the global graphite market over the period 2014 to 2025. The report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision-making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.
The following are the key features of the report:
- Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.
- Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.
- Market trend and forecast analysis.
- Market segment trend and forecast.
- Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.
- Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.
- Emerging trends.
- Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.
- Key success factors.
Customization Options
With this detailed report, Stratview Research offers one of the following free customization options to our respectable clients:
Company Profiling
- Detailed profiling of additional market players (up to 3)
- SWOT analysis of key players (up to 3)
Geographic Analysis
- Further segmentation of North America into the USA, Canada, and Mexico
Regional Segmentation
- Current market segmentation of any one of the regions by application
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