Australia's Syrah Resources and Novonix joined an antidumping and countervailing duty petition with their US counterparts over graphite active anode material (AAM) products flowing from China to the US, the graphite miners said Dec. 19.
Syrah Resources said the petition was filed alongside members from the North American Graphite Alliance (NAGA) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Syrah Technologies LLC, with the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and International Trade Commission (ITC). NAGA represents US and Canadian producers of battery-grade natural and synthetic graphite.
The petition was filed on Dec. 18 by the American Active Anode Material Producers (AAAMP), a coalition of US graphite producers, "to initiate a trade investigation and impose tariffs as high as 920% on imports of natural and synthetic graphite from China used to make lithium-ion battery anode material," AAAMP said. AAAMP comprises four members of NAGA, including Novonix.
Novonix aims to start up two synthetic graphite plants at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2025 and 2028, respectively, totaling 51,500 mt/year of output.
"It is apparent that China is employing an overcapacity strategy in synthetic graphite AAM, resulting in suppliers from China selling graphite AAM into the United States battery market at unfair prices in some cases underpinned by support from the Chinese government," Syrah Resources said.
NAGA cited a report which said the US imported more than 91,000 mt of graphite in 2023, of which 70,000 mt came from China.
"According to official trade data, the value of US imports of graphite from China has almost tripled since the Trump tariffs were first introduced in 2018 and Tesla won an exemption. In 2023, imports from China were worth some $290.9 million and represented almost 70% of the value of US imports of graphite," NAGA said.
The petition comes after the US modified Section 301 tariffs on a number of commodity imports from China, which included graphite and other critical minerals. As a result, the United States Trade Representative set tariffs of 25% for natural graphite, lithium-ion batteries for other applications and permanent magnets from 2026.
"Notwithstanding a 25% import tariff imposed under the Section 301 tariffs on both natural and synthetic graphite AAM, Chinese exporters can absorb these costs by selling graphite at prices below aggregate production costs, which further distorts the market," Syrah Resources said.
Preliminary decision expected Feb 2025
Syrah Resources also said the ITC will conduct a hearing early January 2025, and is expected to provide a preliminary determination in February 2025, and complete its AD/CVD investigation and make a final determination by January 2026.
As for the DOC, it will start a probe in January 2025 and make a preliminary decision in May 2025. Pending the outcome of the probe, the DOC will issue an antidumping order and may assess additional AD/CVD duties on Chinese graphite AAM imports into the US by January 2026.
"Experts at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, the law firm handling the case, estimate dumping margins as high as 920%, allowing China to absorb the additional 25% cost easily," both AAAMP and Novonix said.
As a result, AAAMP and Novonix said if the DOC and ITC probes both "prove conclusive," the DOC can assess additional tariffs equal to the extent of unfair pricing.
"Experts have calculated appropriate anti-dumping tariffs on graphite from China should be as high as 920%," AAAMP said.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed natural flake graphite at $405/mt FOB China Dec. 18, down $5/mt on the week amid the US dollar appreciating against the Chinese yuan. This price reflects the spot value of natural flake graphite with 94%-95% carbon content and minus 100 mesh size delivered to the Qingdao port.
"Prices are pretty stable since it's near the end of the year," a Chinese producer said, adding that downstream demand for anode has recovered a bit but the supply of natural flake graphite is still plentiful.
Platts assessed flake graphite on a CIF Northeast Asia basis at $435/mt Dec. 18, also down $5/mt over the week. The price reflects materials in Northeast Asia normalized to Japan's main ports.
Downstream, Platts assessed spherical graphite with 99.95% carbon content, uncoated with a size of 15 microns, at $1,785/mt FOB China Dec. 18, down $5/mt week over week, while spherical graphite on a CIF Northeast Asia basis was assessed at $1,815/mt, also down $5/mt on the week.
