【Graphite】Syrah Resources Joins U.S. Lobbying Group, Calls for Investigation into China's Graphite Pricing Strategy

Syrah Resources (ASX: SYR) has joined a North American miners' lobbying group to petition the U.S. Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission regarding China's alleged "price dumping" of graphite products.

The American Active Anode Material Producers (AAAMP) has filed a 14,000-page petition with these federal agencies, alleging that China, through substantial state subsidies, is artificially lowering the price of processed graphite, making it difficult for other companies to compete. The high-quality graphitized carburants is widely used in metallurgy such as steelmaking and the production of metal alloys. 

The group hopes that, if unfair pricing is confirmed, the U.S. government will impose additional tariffs on certain Chinese graphite products.

Fair Competition

Syrah's Managing Director, Shaun Verner, stated that the company's petition reflects its commitment to trade practices that do not undermine fair competition.

If Chinese suppliers are found guilty of illegally lowering mineral prices, U.S. producers are seeking tariffs of up to 920%.

"This request will be implemented in the coming months and may be warmly welcomed by President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to impose tariffs on Chinese goods amidst an escalating trade war between the two nations, a conflict that has garnered national attention. Otherwise, supply chains will become increasingly obscure," said Mr. Verner.

The company stated that additional tariff actions would help protect the North American active anode material (AAM) or battery anode material industry from the impact of Chinese trade practices and support the development of a graphite AAM supply chain outside China.

Major Graphite Market

The United States is a key market in Syrah's global graphite development supply chain.

In late October, Syrah secured substantial U.S. financial support for its Balama graphite operations in Mozambique, designated as a critical component of the global energy transition.

This funding, arranged through a loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, provided approximately $227 million in financial support for Balama, marking the first such funding for a graphite operation.

Syrah had previously signed binding multi-year off-take agreements with U.S. customers for the development of spherical graphite and anode processing.

Key Battery Minerals

The U.S. government has designated graphite as a critical mineral due to its essential role in lithium-ion batteries.

In September 2024, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) finalized actions to impose tariffs on certain imports from China, targeting unfair and market-distorting trade practices by Chinese suppliers.

The USTR reinstated a 25% tariff on natural and synthetic graphite AAM products from China and, starting in 2025, will increase tariffs to 25% on various other products such as natural graphite flakes and uncoated graphite powder.

The investigation into Chinese graphite AAM suppliers will now assess whether the U.S. domestic industry has been harmed by Chinese suppliers selling graphite AAM below fair value and/or whether the Chinese government has subsidized graphite AAM production.

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