Conductive Graphite / Carbon Black

Swiss/French producer of synthetic and natural graphite powders, conductive carbon black and dispersions for batteries and industry.

Wiesbaden-headquartered (Meitingen campus legacy) German specialty carbon and graphite company (XETRA: SGL). Carbon fiber tow production at Moses Lake, Washington, USA (SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers joint venture with BMW — primarily supplied BMW i3/i8 automotive body structures). PAN precursor at Lavradio, Portugal. SGL has moved away from large-scale commodity CF toward specialty graphite, ceramic brakes (Brembo-SGL JV), and specialty carbon products. The Moses Lake WA automotive CF JV with BMW (using hydroelectric power for ~50% reduced CO2 footprint) is the primary CF tow output. SGL is NOT a significant SCBA pressure vessel market player; automotive and specialty industrial are its primary carbon fiber markets.

Owner of the Balama graphite mine (Mozambique) — the largest natural-graphite operation outside China — and the Vidalia, Louisiana active anode material plant. Key Western ex-China graphite supplier.

BTR New Material Group Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen; SZSE: 835185; ~¥13B revenue 2023) is the world's largest producer of lithium-ion battery anode materials by volume, overtaking Shanshan Corporation around 2020-2021. BTR produces both synthetic graphite anode material (dominant product, ~70% of its anode volume) and natural graphite anode material (~30%). Its synthetic graphite anode is made by graphitizing petroleum coke or coal tar pitch precursors at ~3000°C in Acheson electric resistance furnaces, producing high-purity (99.9%+) spheroidized graphite with superior electrochemical performance versus natural graphite. BTR's customers include CATL, BYD, LG Energy Solution, Panasonic, Samsung SDI, and SK On. BTR operates multiple production bases across China (Shenzhen Bao'an, Guizhou, Shandong, Ningde) and is expanding into localized overseas production (BTR Korea JV, BTR Germany study). Estimated ~25% global synthetic graphite anode market share in 2023.

One of the world's three largest carbon black producers; tire-grade carbon black (Specialty Fluids, Reinforcement Materials segment) accounts for ~70% of Cabot revenue; operates plants across the Americas, Europe, and Asia supplying all major tire manufacturers.

Novonix Ltd. (Halifax, Nova Scotia; ASX/Nasdaq: NVX; formerly known through its Dalhousie University spinout origins) is a North American synthetic graphite anode startup operating the only commercial-scale synthetic graphite anode production facility in North America. Novonix's Aiken, South Carolina facility (targeting 10,000 tonnes/year by 2025) uses a proprietary all-dry (no wet slurry) synthesis process that is significantly less energy-intensive than traditional Acheson furnace graphitization, and avoids the need for high-temperature furnaces sourced from China. Novonix received a US$103 million DOE Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) grant in 2022 to scale U.S. synthetic graphite production. Customers include Phillips 66 (strategic investor), Samsung SDI (equity investor and offtake agreement). Novonix also operates a battery research services division in Halifax and a materials characterization business.

Resonac Holdings K.K. (Tokyo; TSE: 4004; formed 2023 by merger of Showa Denko K.K. and Hitachi Chemical Company Ltd.) is Japan's second-largest ABF substrate film producer after Ajinomoto Fine-Techno, and major semiconductor materials company. Resonac's semiconductor materials division produces ABF-equivalent build-up films under the brand name 'MCL' (Multilayer build-up resin for Core-Less substrates). The merger creating Resonac combined Showa Denko (industrial chemicals, graphite electrodes, specialty gases) with Hitachi Chemical (now Resonac Holdings; adhesives, printed circuit board materials, semiconductor packaging resins) — creating a $8B+ semiconductor materials company directly competing with Ajinomoto in FC-BGA substrates. Showa Denko had itself absorbed Hitachi Chemical in 2021 and rebranded to Resonac in 2023.