Evion Group upscales production at Indian expandable graphite facility

Evion Group (ASX: EVG) has confirmed that the testing and production ramp-up period at its expandable graphite facility in India is nearing completion.

The downstream plant produced 700 kilograms of expandable graphite on the first trial production day, a figure expected to steadily increase over the short term to achieve a capacity of at least 150 tonnes per month.

Planning is underway for further expansion to scale up to meet strong demand for high-quality expandable graphite from markets in Europe, the US and Asia.

Graphite JV

Located in the city of Pune, the newly-built operation is owned by the Panthera Graphite Technologies joint venture (JV) between Evion and Metachem Manufacturing.

The partners are currently concluding fixed-price contracts for the acquisition of graphite concentrate required to meet production over the next 12 months.

Prices are expected to be within forecasts and will bring substantial security of return to the operation.

Panthera is also negotiating updated sales prices and volumes with current and new buyers to expand its market reach to the US and Japan, a move aimed at providing diversified sales channels and ensuring strong cash flow over the next year.

Premium product

Evion managing director David Round said he was pleased with Panthera’s efforts to achieve a premium product over the last few months.

“There has been a substantial amount of testing and refining of our production processes to ensure we output a range of premium products to meet ever-growing demand,” he said.

“We have had enquiries from buyers in the US and Asia, which gives us great confidence that we should move forward and increase the plant’s production output.”

Chinese export ban

The start of production at the India facility is expected to meet a projected global graphite shortage following China’s recent export ban.

The world’s leading graphite producer and exporter introduced new rules in October requiring domestic companies to apply for permits before being able to ship critical minerals to international markets.

The nine items covered by the new restrictions include three types of high-purity, high-strength and high-density artificial graphite and its products, as well as six types of natural flake graphite and related products.

The controls are believed to represent China’s bid to secure its position at the top of the graphite mining and production hierarchy.

Mr Round said the ban is likely to result in increased demand for graphite from existing and new markets able to supply world-class material at competitive prices.