The world has seen a major boost in the production and use of graphite over the past few decades due to its critical role in modern technologies such as electric vehicles and renewable energies. The global graphite demand is set to increase in the coming years, and with it, the demand for graphite-producing countries all around the world is also going up. In this article, we take a look at the top-10 graphite-producing countries that have stepped up to cater to this rising need.
China is by far the world leader in graphite production. In 2020 alone, the country’s output was estimated to be approximately 500,000 tonnes, a significant increase compared to 2019 when only about 380,000 tonnes were produced. The impressive production capacity of the country is largely due to numerous high-quality graphite deposits situated in the eastern and southern parts of the country.
India is the second-largest graphite producer in the world. While in 2019, the nation’s output was only about 90,000 tonnes, it rose sharply in 2020 to around 180,000 tonnes. A considerable contributor to this growth was the country’s focus on modernizing its mining operations, which provided a boost to the graphite production capacity.
Third on this list is Brazil, which has seen a steady decline in graphite production over the years. Nonetheless, in 2020, the country still managed to output around 60,000 tonnes of graphite despite the challenging circumstances. This was made possible thanks to numerous large-scale graphite mines located in the south and southeast regions of the country.
Fourth on this list is Mexico, which has also seen its graphite production increase in recent years. During the 2020 production year, Mexico’s output was estimated to be around 40,000 tonnes, a significant increase from 2019’s output of just 20,000 tonnes. This was mainly due to various efforts put in by the government and miners across the country for the further development of the graphite industry.
North Korea, Canada, Turkey, Madagascar, Madagascar, and Pakistan are next in line in terms of output and together they produced around 60,000 tonnes in 2020. While North Korea has a few major mines that are key to the country’s graphite production, the other countries largely rely on smaller-scale operations.
Overall, the combined production of these top 10 countries in 2020 is estimated to be around 1,100,000 tonnes of graphite, a significant increase compared to 2019. We can also expect the graphite output of these countries to keep increasing in the coming years as the demand for graphite around the globe continues to grow.
