From reliance to resilience: Securing Europe’ s green graphite supply
Graphite is an essential yet often overlooked material in Europe’ s green transition, crucial for sustainable steelmaking, batteries, nuclear power, and electrification. However, Europe’ s graphite supply is largely imported from China, creating geopolitical risks. Current graphite production methods also present major sustainability challenges, with significant climate impacts due to heavy reliance on fossil-based materials and energy-intensive processes. As demand continues to grow sharply, Europe urgently needs a secure and sustainable graphite source to achieve its climate and industrial goals.
By Jakob Way, Nordic Bio-Graphite AB
The Growing Graphite Shortage
Graphite is a unique form of carbon with excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, making it vital for high-temperature industrial processes like steelmaking. As the steel industry moves away from traditional blast furnaces, EAF steelmaking is gaining traction as a cleaner, more sustainable alternative. Central to this transition are graphite electrodes, which conduct high-current electricity to achieve temperatures exceeding 3,000 ° C- essential for melting and refining steel. Each tonne of EAF-produced steel consumes approximately 2 to 4 kg of graphite electrodes, emphasizing graphite’ s strategic importance. But as EAF steelmaking expands globally, graphite demand is rising, further straining an already tight supply.
Steelmaking isn’ t the only industry driving this demand. Graphite is critical for lithiumion batteries, with each electric vehicle battery containing around 70 kg of graphite on average. It’ s also vital in nuclear reactors, fuel cells, and the defence industry. As these sectors grow, competition for graphite intensifies, creating additional pressure on supply chains. Europe produces little
22 Green Steel World | Issue 17 | April 2025