GLOBAL GRAPHITE SNAPSHOT: Tight availability, high freights costs support amorphous prices
By Jon Stibbs, Sybil Pan
Published: Thursday, 21 January 2021
Key data from the graphite pricing sessions in Asia and Europe
for the week ended Thursday January 21.
|
Assessment (in $ per tonne) |
This week's price |
Previous week's price |
Weekly % change |
|
Graphite flake, 94% C, +100 mesh, cif Europe |
860 |
860 |
0 |
|
Graphite flake, 94% C, -100 mesh, cif Europe |
550 |
550 |
0 |
|
Graphite flake, 94% C, +80 mesh, cif Europe |
1,000 |
1,000 |
0 |
|
Graphite flake, 94% C, +100 mesh, fob China |
890 |
890 |
0 |
|
Graphite flake, 94% C, -100 mesh, fob China |
530 |
530 |
0 |
|
Graphite flake, 94% C, +80% mesh, fob China |
1,010 |
1,010 |
0 |
|
Graphite spherical, 99.95% C, 15 microns, fob China
|
2,350-2,600 |
2,350-2,600 |
0 |
|
Graphite amorphous, 80% C, -200 mesh, fob China |
285-340 |
270-325 |
5.0 |
|
Graphite amorphous, 80-85% C, -200 mesh, cif Europe
|
375-480 |
375-460 |
+2.4 |
China
- China’s price for amorphous graphite ticked
up further on tight supply in the domestic market and
increasing freight costs.
- The flake graphite markets were all stable due to slow
demand from the seaborne market and the reduction in
end-of-year stockpiling in the domestic market. Suppliers in
China expect there to be market changes after the Chinese
Lunar New Year on February 12.
- The spherical graphite market has been flat since
mid-November despite strengthening demand from major
consumers in Japan and South Korea.
Europe
- Prices in the amorphous market ticked up at the top end
of the range due to increased prices for Chinese material,
resulting from soaring container costs.
- The effect of increased transport costs from China has
pushed consumers toward alternative sources of amorphous and
flake graphite.
- Market participants reported weak demand, with most
consumers having restocked in December for the first quarter
of 2021.
Graphite flake premium calculator
The Value in Use (VIU) was updated to 5% on January 1 2021 for
the first quarter of 2021 from 4.8% in the fourth quarter of
2020.
|
Adjustment |
This quarter's VIU |
Previous quarter's VIU |
Quarterly change |
|
Carbon VIU in % |
5 |
4.8 |
4.2 |
The Carbon-VIU measures, in percentage terms, the price
value of one extra % of carbon content as reported in the
market.
The VIU is calculated using statistical methods and the large
amount of prices and data collected by Fastmarkets. The VIU
shown is the value implied by the market and not an in-house
assessment.
An example of what the Carbon VIU means practically: A
published Carbon VIU of 7% means that material with a 95%
carbon content is priced by the market, on average, 7% more
expensive than 94% carbon content material, assuming other
factors are equal.
Likewise, it means that 96% carbon content material would be 7%
more expensive than 95% material, and that 97% carbon content
material would be 7% more expensive than 96% material or 21%
more expensive than 94% carbon.
For more information, to provide feedback on this graphite
snapshot or if you would like to contribute to the price
discovery process, please contact Jon Stibbs or Sybil Pan by
email at: pricing@indmin.com. Please add the subject heading
"FAO: Jon Stibbs/Sybil Pan - graphite."