Tirupati Graphite CEO Shishir Poddar told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday (25 July) that the company he heads plans to start producing 50,000 metric tonnes of graphite next year in Mozambique, targeting 8% of global output by 2030.
Graphite is an essential material for the production of batteries used to store energy and power electric vehicles and is mainly mined in China, Mozambique, Madagascar and Brazil.
London Stock Exchange-listed Tirupati acquired two graphite projects in Mozambique, Montepuez and Balama, from Australian exploration company Battery Minerals in April this year, and also has graphite mining and processing operations in Madagascar with a capacity to produce 30,000 tonnes a year.
Sales of electric vehicles are expected to rise from 10 million in 2022 to 14 million this year, according to the International Energy Agency, increasing demand for minerals used in batteries, such as graphite and lithium.
“After acquiring the Mozambican assets, Tirupati is on track to start producing 50,000 tonnes of flake graphite a year in Montepuez. The company aims to increase production to 400,000 tonnes a year from Mozambique and Madagascar over seven years,” said Shishir Poddar. He added: “The two Mozambican projects currently have licences to produce 158,000 tonnes a year, but production will be expanded as the global market grows.”
Poddar argued that global demand for graphite is expected to triple to five million tonnes by 2030. “This is a very challenging situation for capacity development. From our side, we have come to the conclusion that we should target eight per cent of global demand as our capacity that we will develop by 2030,” he annouced.
