Strategic & Critical
Critical Raw Material
Raw materials are fundamental to Europe’s economy, forming the backbone of a strong industrial base that produces a wide range of goods and applications vital to everyday life and modern technologies. Reliable and unhindered access to these raw materials is a growing concern within the EU and globally.
As part of its strategy to secure a sustainable and resilient supply of critical raw materials, the European Union has placed natural graphite on its critical raw materials list. Moreover, battery-grade graphite has been designated on the EU’s strategic raw materials list, reflecting the Union’s strategic foresight and commitment to ensuring diversified, affordable, and sustainable access to these vital resources. These steps align with global recognition of graphite’s essential role in modern technologies.
Graphite has also been recognised as a critical material by both Japan and the United States. Recently, the US elevated graphite to the same critical status as rare earth elements, underscoring its vital importance in a broad array of modern technologies.
Currently, the EU imports around 100,000 tonnes of natural graphite annually, primarily from China, Tanzania, and Mozambique. However, the landscape is changing as new sources within and outside the EU come online, aiming to secure a more sustainable and resilient supply chain for this critical raw material.
Growing Demand
Graphite is a key, strategic material in the emerging green technology economy, which includes advancements in energy storage, electric vehicles, and various electronics, from smartphones to laptops. The demand for graphite is expected to grow significantly, driven by new applications such as lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and nuclear power. Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly popular, not just in consumer electronics and personal vehicles but also in trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, buses, and boats. Industrial applications such as powering forklifts, automated warehouses, power tools, and other equipment further bolster the demand for this essential material. The ongoing electrification of vehicles and other machinery will continue to drive growth in graphite demand.
As the green technology economy grows,
demand for graphite could outstrip supply over the next decade.
European and worldwide resource base
Refractories
Recycling Steel Scrap with Graphite Electrodes
The main downstream market of the sector is the electrode market, especially the steel industry,
for which the recycling of scrap steel reduces the CO2-emissions of the sector.
As of today, the most efficient way to recycle steel is the electric arc furnace (EAF). The steel is produced by passing high currents through huge graphite electrodes into the scrap. Between two of our graphite electrodes flows about as much current as through 200,000 light bulbs. Using graphite electrodes allows obtaining such high temperatures to melt the steel scrap and to ensure the steel qualities of the recycled steel. Graphite electrodes are an integral part of the latest steel recycling technology and given the increased use of steel in infrastructure around the world, graphite electrodes will continue to be required to save resources for the future. Compared to steel making via the Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) graphite electrodes used in EAFs contribute to a reduction of 84 million mt of CO2 emissions per year in the EU- ,equivalent to emissions from 28 million passenger cars.
The EU Green Deal and the New Circular Economy Action plan highlighted how much the domestic processing of European generated waste can contribute to various objectives of the Union, including reducing environmental and climate impacts. Therefore, the treatment and recycling of the EU waste should occur in EU when there is state-of-the-art technology for doing it and when exporting it to third countries would result in harmful impacts on environment and human health.
