I developed the basic, santitised chart in 2010 with updated data for each subsequent year with relation to concentrate pricing and costs variations...there is a more detailed chart with analysis and narratives that I provide in consulting.
Due to rising restrictions by more and more secondary battery manufacturers on graphite purified through caustic processes, thermal purification including batch and continuous (vertical & horizontal through puts), are improving in efficiencies, power consumption, and halogen use volumes.
Oxide conversion is more efficient that caustic digestion, and much, much more environmentally friendly...also, a thermal purification supplier will have preference over a caustic purification operation, especially if the customer purchasing the purified graphite is ISO 14001 certified to demonstrate their efforts to protect the environment.
Finally, you cannot easily substitute graphite signatures one for another to a qualified ISO 9001 customer, as not all graphite resources are the same in chemistry or performance, and doing this can create potential product failure, violate government regulations, and put battery manufacturers / suppliers and consumers at significant risk.
Any new supply of SPG graphite to a battery manufacturer will have to be ISO 9001 certified, and will take up to 3 years to qualify, not including field and trial testing; so even if demand for SPG products increases, there will be a supply lag until the new signature SPG is qualified.
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