Gredmann to supply Syrah graphite fines to China

Sydney-based graphite producer Syrah Resources has entered into an agreement with Taiwanese specialist trader Gredmann for the sale of natural graphite fines into China.

The material will come from Syrah's Balama mine in Mozambique, the world's largest exporter of natural graphite.

The agreement is for the supply and sale of 279,000t of graphite fines across a range of fixed carbon grades between June 2019 and December 2021 equivalent to a pro-rata rate of 108,000 t/yr.

It provides Syrah with better payment terms than previous contracts, the company said, adding that it has amended its sales agreement with China's Qingdao Langruite Graphite to comprise only sales of coarse flake graphite.

Asia-focused Gredmann is a trader of industrial products and chemicals as well as supply chain materials in the battery energy storage market. It will be Syrah's preferred trader of graphite fines products in China for the term of the agreement with direct sales continuing to certain consumers.

Syrah expects to produce 45,000-50,000t of fines and coarse flake graphite from Balama in the April-June quarter and is aiming to increase its output to 250,000t in 2019 from 104,000t in 2018. It is also developing a spherical graphite processing facility for battery anodes in the US state of Louisiana.