Graphite as the raw material is widely used in various industries. The greatest amount of graphite is used in metallurgy and foundry industry, mainly as a raw material forproduction of refractory materials and additives węglotwórczych to steel and cast ironand the manufacture of graphite electrodes for arc furnaces. In addition, significant amounts of graphite are used as additives for molding and core as well as the matrixof various kinds of protective covers for casting molds and cores. Considerableimportance is the production of graphite sealing materials. In addition, lead is used in electrical engineering, the manufacture of lubricants special linings and brake pads,anti-adhesive coatings and colloidal protective layer.

Światowe zasoby, produkcja i eksport grafitu naturalnego w 1999 roku:
Specyfikacja Zasoby [tysiące ton] Produkcja [tysiące ton] Eksport [tysiące ton]
Kraj tys. ton % udział tys. ton % udział tys. ton % udział
Chiny 310 000 68,0 200 34,4 120 42,1
Brazylia 95 000 21,0 47 8,1 15 5,3
Meksyk 3 100 0,7 48 8,3 20 7,0
Madagaskar 960 0,2 13 2,2 15 5,3
Indie 620 0,1 125 21,5 30 10,5
Pozostale kraje 44 800 10,0 148 25,5 85 29,8
Razem 454 080 100,0 581 0,0 285 100,0

In 1999, the world's reserves of natural graphite was estimated at 454 milony tonnes, of which China is it more than 68% and in Brazil about 21% of the world ajwiększe natural graphite deposits in China, Canada, Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.Large deposits of this raw material has also Russia. In 1989, the overall world production of natural graphite was more than a million tons. In subsequent years there was a decrease of its production in 1993 reached about 741,000 tons, while in 2000 only about 602,000 tons. In subsequent years there was an increase production of graphite and is expected to continuously increase. The increase in production of graphite is caused mainly by increasing the production of steel and other alloys, and precious metals. Due to the variety of its natural graphite mining in different countries is as follows (in decreasing order of production): 

  • graphite flake: China, Ukraine, Brazil, Canada, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Norway;
  • graphite-amorphous (microcrystalline): China, South Korea, Mexico, Czech Republic, Austria, North Korea, Russia and Zimbabwe.

The largest consumption of imports of graphite and also concentrated in countries with a large share of world steel production and not with their own resources of natural gas. The situation is best illustrated by the correlation between the level of imports and production of crude steel in different countries, and the resulting graphite consumption rate, expressed in kilograms per tonne of steel produced.

 

The largest importers of graphite, steel production and consumption index:
Country import ton/rok % udział produkcja stali wskaźnik zużycia
Japan 90 000 - 95 000 ok. 32 106 mil ton 0,9
United States 40 000 - 45 000 ok. 15 102 mil ton 0,4
Germany 35 000-40 000 ok. 13 46,4 mil ton 0,8
United Kingdom 23 000-25 000 ok. 8 15,2 mil ton 1,6
Italy 7 000 3 26,7 mil ton 0,4
France 6 000 2 21 mil ton 0,3
Austria 5 000 2 5,7 mil ton 0,9

In Poland in recent years, consumption of natural graphite stands at 1.25 thousand.tonnes of flake graphite in the approximately 900 tons of graphite, amorphous andabout 350 tons. Consumption of graphite in Poland tends to increase as a result of a significant increase in raw steel production and popularization of natural graphite in metallurgical processes. Graphite wear indicator now stands at approximately 0.1 kg per tonne of steel and is growing rapidly, it is estimated that in the coming years to reach a value that is 0.3 kg, a level comparable with the developed countries and notwith an in their own resources of natural graphite.