Graphite Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends and Forecast (2026 - 2031)

Global Graphite Market Trends and Insights

Soaring Li-Ion Battery Gigafactory Build-Outs

Battery-grade graphite demand is set to triple from 900,000 t in 2024 to 2.7 million t by 2030 as new gigafactories add roughly 150 GWh of cell capacity each year^{[1]International Energy Agency, “Battery and Minerals Outlook 2025,” iea.org}. BTR New Material added 120,000 t pa of anode output in 2025 to secure contracts with CATL and BYD. Vianode commissioned a 10,000 t pa synthetic-graphite plant in Norway, backed by EUR 150 million equity, targeting European buyers seeking non-Chinese supply. In the United States, Syrah Resources’ Vidalia facility reached 11,250 t pa by mid-2025 after winning a USD 220 million Department of Energy loan guarantee. LFP chemistries raise anode loading by 15%, offsetting silicon substitution risk in high-end cells.

Expansion of Electric-Arc-Furnace Steel Capacity

EAF steel will require 1.1 million t of graphite electrodes annually by 2030, up from 850,000 t in 2024, as decarbonization policies spur blast-furnace conversions. HEG Limited lifted capacity utilization to 72% in FY2025 to meet India’s infrastructure‐led steel demand. Graphite India added a 20,000 t pa ultra-high-power electrode line aimed at Southeast Asia and Middle East customers. Germany’s Salzgitter AG plans an EAF conversion that will add 8,000 t pa of electrode demand by 2029. Ultra-high-power electrodes carry a 30% price premium yet cut furnace energy use by 15%, improving steel-mill economics.

Rising Demand for Ultra-High-Purity Synthetic Graphite in Semiconductors

Advanced chip packaging needs thermal-interface materials exceeding 1,500 W/m-K, a specification met by ultra-high-purity synthetic graphite thinner than 50 µm. Tokai Carbon and Nippon Kokuen supplied 65% of this niche in 2025 by reducing ash below 5 ppm. TSMC’s Arizona fab consumes 120 t pa of high-purity graphite for CVD crucibles, while Intel’s Ohio complex will require about 200 t pa from 2027 onward. SGL Carbon’s SIGRAFLEX sheets captured 40% of the heat-spreader segment by dissipating 500 W TDP in sub-50 µm stacks. Despite volumes of only 15,000 t pa, price premiums of 5–8× battery-grade material create attractive margins for qualified suppliers.

China’s Export-Licence Regime Accelerating Ex-China Supply Investments

Beijing’s 2023 export-licensing requirements initially froze one-fifth of global graphite trade, but the selective suspension of permits in November 2025 spurred USD 1.8 billion of Western capacity announcements that year. Syrah Resources expanded Vidalia with U.S. federal backing to bypass Chinese processing. Northern Graphite restarted Ontario’s Bissett Creek mine to deliver 25,000 t pa of concentrate to Canadian anode lines. Vianode’s Norwegian facility pledges a 90% lower carbon footprint and a 10% cost advantage over Chinese producers. Although the controls temporarily boosted Chinese synthetic-graphite prices by 12% in Q1 2025, new Western supply moderated the spike by year-end.

Needle-Coke Feedstock Bottlenecks for Synthetic Graphite

Phillips 66 exited petroleum needle-coke production in 2024, erasing 180,000 t pa of capacity and tightening global supply by 15%. GrafTech’s Q1 2025 electrode shipments fell 22% as it struggled to source low-sulfur coke. Spot buyers saw an 18% price jump in H1 2025, while Japanese and Chinese majors secured multi-year coal-tar-pitch deals at a USD 500/t premium. Only a dozen refineries worldwide produce needle coke suitable for ultra-high-power electrodes, and none announced expansions after 2022. Blended feedstocks reduce electrode life by 10%, limiting their uptake in premium furnaces.

Battery-Anode Silicon Substitution Eroding Graphite Intensity per kWh

Sila Nanotechnologies’ Titan Silicon anode, first deployed in Mercedes-Benz EQG cells in 2025, replaced 20% of graphite while lifting volumetric energy density to 800 Wh/L^{[2]Sila Nanotechnologies Inc., “Titan Silicon performance brief,” silanano.com}. Group14 Technologies scaled 2,000 t pa of SCC55 silicon-carbon composite capable of 30% silicon loading without swelling failures. IEA models show silicon blends reaching 35% of EV battery capacity by 2030, trimming graphite use from 0.9 kg/kWh to 0.7 kg/kWh fleet-wide. Yet cost-sensitive LFP packs remain graphite-heavy, and only 12% of 2025 EV models adopted silicon anodes. The substitution is therefore a moderating rather than destructive force.

Segment Analysis

By Type: Synthetic Dominance Faces Natural’s Resurgence

Synthetic graphite retained 59.09% of the graphite market share in 2025, thanks to its purity advantage in battery anodes and ultra-high-power electrodes. Natural grades, however, are forecast to expand at a 12.29% CAGR to 2031, lifted by lower costs in refractories, lubricants, and expandable-graphite products. Natural concentrate averaged USD 800–1,200/t in 2025 versus USD 4,500–6,500/t for battery-grade synthetic, a spread that encourages cost-conscious buyers. The graphite market size for natural graphite applications is therefore set to widen faster than synthetic, even if the latter keeps higher absolute revenues.

Production footprints are diverging. China, Japan, and South Korea still host 78% of synthetic capacity, yet North America and Europe added 60,000 t pa in 2025, improving supply security. Natural graphite draws strength from geographic diversity across Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Brazil, whose combined reserves exceed 100 million t. Energy-intensive graphitization subjects synthetic producers to carbon-pricing risk, whereas natural processing consumes one-fifth of the electricity per tonne and increasingly benefits from renewable-powered beneficiation plants.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Application: Batteries Outpace Electrodes and Refractories

Batteries absorbed 40.98% of 2025 demand and will grow at a robust 17.94% CAGR through 2031 as EV output targets 30 million units and stationary storage reaches 500 GWh. The graphite market size for batteries alone is expected to top USD 6 billion by the end of the decade, more than doubling 2026 levels. Electrodes for EAF steel will expand, reflecting both steel-market cyclicality and advances in electrode reuse technologies.

Refractory bricks, casting facings, and foundry applications will advance as aluminum and magnesium smelters adopt graphite-bonded linings resistant to 1,800°C melts. Lubricants and friction modifiers’ progress will be fueled by aerospace and heavy-machinery demand. Thermal-management materials, though a smaller volume segment, will surge on the back of data-center processors and high-power EV inverters that dissipate over 300 W/cm². Collectively, non-battery uses remain vital for market balance, cushioning suppliers when EV sales fluctuate.

By End-User Industry: Automotive Leads, Electronics Accelerates

Automotive accounted for 43.91% of 2025 demand, the largest graphite market share among end users, and is projected to expand at a 16.99% CAGR through 2031 as larger 75 kWh battery packs and silicon-carbide inverters become standard equipment. Electronics, spanning semiconductors, consumer devices, and data-center hardware, is set for growth, propelled by AI accelerators that require graphite heat spreaders able to manage 500 W thermal design powers. The segment’s center of gravity lies in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which together host 70% of global semiconductor packaging capacity and consume about 15,000 t pa of ultra-high-purity synthetic graphite.

Metallurgy will grow at a more measured CAGR, as EAF steel and aluminum smelting expand but face competition from faster-growing automotive and electronics uses. Energy applications, including grid batteries, fuel cells, and nuclear reactors, are forecast to advance with the support of 200 GWh of stationary storage additions that require graphite felt electrodes at 99.9% purity. Aerospace and defense will post a substantial CAGR because satellite thermal-control panels and hypersonic-vehicle nose cones exploit graphite’s >1,500 W/m-K conductivity and ablation resistance. These specialized grades command prices 10–15 × commodity levels, drawing specialty suppliers such as SGL Carbon and Mersen into the segment. The combined pull of electrified transport, AI-driven compute, and renewable-energy storage is therefore steering demand toward high-purity synthetic grades and raising the technical entry bar for newcomers lacking purification expertise.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

Geography Analysis

Asia-Pacific controlled 55.72% of 2025 revenue and is forecast to grow at 11.34% CAGR through 2031. China commissioned 1.2 million t pa of new synthetic capacity between 2024 and 2025 to serve CATL and BYD. Japan and South Korea account for 65% of semiconductor-grade output, exporting 12,000 t pa of ultra-high-purity material to TSMC, Samsung, and Intel fabs. India’s electrode producers raised utilization to 72% in FY2025 to meet domestic EAF steel growth. The graphite market size in Asia-Pacific, therefore, remains anchored by integrated supply chains spanning mines, anode plants, and downstream gigafactories.

North America’s market share is projected to expand, propelled by USD 1.2 billion of 2025 investments aimed at domestic anode independence. Syrah’s Vidalia plant hit 11,250 t pa in 2025 and targets 40,000 t pa by 2028. NOVONIX secured a USD 150 million Department of Energy grant to build a 30,000 t pa synthetic facility in Tennessee that will come online in 2027. Canada’s Bissett Creek mine restarted in 2024 to supply 25,000 t pa of concentrate, and Tesla’s upcoming Monterrey gigafactory in Mexico will need 8,000 t pa of anode material by 2027. Needle-coke scarcity remains the region’s largest constraint since Phillips 66’s 2024 exit removed a local feedstock source.

Europe will register growth, led by Norway’s Vianode plant, which raised EUR 150 million in March 2025 to scale from 10,000 t pa to 50,000 t pa by 2030. Sweden’s Talga Group secured a EUR 150 million European Investment Bank loan to expand its Vittangi natural-graphite project to 19,500 t pa by 2027, achieving a 1.2 kg CO₂/kg footprint using hydropower. Germany’s SGL Carbon and France’s Mersen added a combined 5,000 t pa of specialty-graphite capacity for semiconductors and aerospace. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, phased in from 2026, tilts demand toward low-emission graphite and EAF steel. Nordic suppliers leverage cheap renewables and proximity to European gigafactories to carve a green niche in the graphite market.