China, the dominant producer of graphite globally, has closed all production in Shandong: a game-changer creating significant opportunity in the sector

China, the dominant producer of graphite globally, has closed all production in Shandong: a game-changer creating significant opportunity in the sector. Recent government action to temporarily close graphite processing-plants for environmental reasons is the first direct action against the industry and points towards domestic reform. In 2013, China produced 63% of the world natural flake graphite and 89% of the world's amorphous graphite. This month, Chinalco (the world's second largest alumina producer and a Chinese state owned enterprise) signed a MoU for 100,000 tonnes per annum of graphite off-take with Syrah (SYR.ASX) which holds 100% of the largest graphite resource globally. Could this lead China to move from a net exporter to net importer of Graphite over the next few years? Just as the market wakes up to the importance of graphite in lithium-ion batteries, energy storage and electric vehicles.