Graphite: Criticality

Duties, Chinese dominance and near-total import reliance

What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.

Exposure by region

Region	Exposure	Share of world output	Share of world imports	Share of world exports	Net trade (US$)	On own critical list	Position
US	High	0.0%	24.8%	5.1%	−$126.5 m	Yes	No mine output since 1989, 100% import reliant (79,000 t imported in 2025, 46% from China in 2021-24), on the 2025 critical list, and imposing 93.5% antidumping duties on Chinese anode material (USGS 2026).
EU	High	0.0%	31.4%	15.8%	−$118.7 m	Yes	Critical and strategic, 99% import reliance for ore, 3% end-of-life recycling input, with China supplying about 40% of EU supply; Germany took 11.8% of world imports by value in 2024 (EU CRM 2023; UN Comtrade).
India	High	6.9%	7.2%	0.3%	−$41.7 m	Yes	Mined 17,000 t in 2025 with 8.6 Mt of reserves, took 7.2% of world imports by value in 2024, is a major electrode exporter, and lists graphite as critical (2023) (USGS; UN Comtrade).
China	Low	75.9%	5.4%	46.6%	+$172.5 m	Yes	Mined 82% of world natural graphite in 2025 and supplied 46.6% of world export value in 2024, and dominates anode processing (USGS; UN Comtrade).
Japan	High	0.0%	10.3%	1.7%	−$53.9 m	Yes	No significant mine output; took 10.3% of world imports by value in 2024 and 36% of China's natural graphite exports in 9M 2025 (UN Comtrade; USGS).
Latin America	Low	3.2%	1.6%	5.8%	+$16.0 m	no list	Brazil mined 65,000 t in 2025 and holds 74 Mt of reserves, the second largest; Mexico mined 740 t (USGS).
Middle East	Low	0.0%	0.4%	0.0%	−$2.47 m	no list	Turkey mined 2,200 t in 2025, and Chinese companies were considering SPG plants in Oman (USGS).
Australia	Low	0.0%	0.2%	0.0%	−$823k	Yes	Not listed as a 2025 producer by USGS, but an Australian company runs Balama in Mozambique and one commissioned an SPG demonstration plant in Queensland (USGS).

Exposure rating: High when the region is a net importer whose import share is at least three times its share of world output (or, for farm goods, it produces under 70% of what it consumes); Medium for other net importers (or 70-95% self-sufficiency), raised to High when world supply is highly concentrated in another country; Low for net exporters or self-sufficient regions. Net importer status uses tonnage where reported, otherwise value. Output: World Mining Data, 2024. Trade: UN Comtrade 2024 (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

Natural graphite is critical and strategic for the EU, and on the US 2025 and India 2023 lists. The EU scores supply risk at 1.8 and economic importance at 3.4, with 99% import reliance. US net import reliance is 100%, and the US has mined no graphite since 1989. The risk is concentration: China mines over three-quarters of supply and processes most battery anode material (Conway, pdf p. 313). Substitution is real but no cure. Synthetic graphite competes in batteries and steelmaking, but much of it is also made in China.

EU 2023 Critical also a strategic raw material US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list Yes Production HHI 5,861 highly concentrated

EU 2023 assessment

Chart: EU 2023 criticality: supply risk against economic importance

Each dot is a material assessed by the EU in 2023. The shaded corner is the critical zone (supply risk ≥ 1.0, economic importance ≥ 2.8). Graphite: supply risk 1.8, economic importance 3.4. EU import reliance, extraction 99% EU recycling input rate 3% US net import reliance, 2025 100% share of apparent consumption

Substitutes

Synthetic graphite powder and scrap, and calcined petroleum coke, in steel and batteries; molybdenum disulphide as a dry lubricant