TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 1908E
Tirupati Graphite PLC
06 July 2021
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 which is part of UK law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the
publication of this announcement this information is considered to
be in the public domain.
6 July 2021
Tirupati Graphite plc
("Tirupati" or the "Company")
Tirupati Signs Marketing MoU with a Major Japanese Global
Trading and Investment Company
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generating,
specialist graphite producer and graphene and advanced materials
developer, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum
of Understanding ("MoU") with Hanwa Co., LTD., ("Hanwa"), to expand
markets for its suite of flake and speciality graphite products in
the Far East ("the Territory").
Overview
-- Hanwa, listed on the Tokyo stock exchange (TYO:8078, Mkt cap
Yen137.58 billion/GBP 1.18 billion), is a leading Japan-based
global trading and investment company and one of the larger traders
of battery chemicals and steel products in the Asian region
with:
o reported Net sales in 2020 of over Yen1,745 billion[1] (GBP
11.37 billion);
o extensive market penetration in the battery metals and steel
sector in the Territory;
o strong relationships with industrial end users in Asia;
and
o proven appetite as a strategic JV partner and investor in
battery metals projects including AIM listed Bacanora Lithium Plc
and an Indonesian Nickel Cobalt project alongside Tsingshan, the
world's largest stainless-steel producer as well as a subsidiary of
CATL, China, the world's largest EV battery manufacturer.
-- Following ongoing engagement, the Company and Hanwa have
identified various prospective buyers in the Territory.
-- Initial discussions with prospective buyers have resulted in
extensive interest in the Company's products owing to its green
processes and suitability with applications of end users.
-- The MoU is expected to lead to deeper engagements with
industrial end users and enhance the development of markets for the
Company's graphite products in the Territory including flake
graphite from Madagascar and specialty graphite from its upcoming
downstream specialty graphite project in India.
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, "Given the East
Asian markets are primarily international trading houses driven, we
are delighted to have signed an MoU with Hanwa, which will
significantly progress our marketing efforts in this important
region. The Far East hosts extensive industrial and speciality
graphite markets, which imports almost all of its graphite
primarily from China. However, lithium-ion battery and its anode
manufacturers are increasingly looking at the green credentials of
their supply chain as well as diversification away from Chinese
sources, which is where we can step in. We therefore look forward
to working with Hanwa's dedicated team, which has strong
relationships with some of the largest graphite users and to
penetrate and lay the foundations for the development of markets
for our suite of graphite products in the Far East.
"The shift to a global green economy continues to accelerate
with the EV revolution going up a gear, which is having a
significant impact on demand for battery raw materials; this is
something we have seen happening over the past few months. As our
production and manufacturing operations expand, the Company is well
positioned to support the increasing demand and we are fast
realising our objective of becoming a key contributor in the global
drive to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the
middle of this century."
DETAILS
Tirupati is focused on establishing new markets to build its
position as a key supplier of high-value flake graphite products to
fast-growing sectors such electric vehicles ('EVs'), expandable
graphite markets and industrial applications. Given the East Asian
markets are primarily driven by international trading houses, the
Company has signed a non-binding MoU with one of Japan's leading
battery chemical traders, Hanwa Co., LTD, to utilise its strong
relationships and assist the Company in developing markets for its
flake graphite product and specialty graphite products ('the
Products') manufactured by Tirupati for Hanwa's exclusive group of
companies and industrial end users in the Far East.
In recent years, Hanwa, which has a number of subsidiaries and
sales bases in the U.S. and around Asia, has signed numerous
off-take and partnership agreements with several other
international companies. These include UK-based Bacanora Lithium
Plc, with whom it also became a cornerstone investor in 2017, and
an Indonesian Nickel Cobalt project alongside Tsingshan, the
world's largest stainless-steel producer, as well as CATL, China,
one of the world's largest EV battery manufacturers. Additionally,
Hanwa is engaged with the steel and other industrial sectors that
use the Products in various applications.
Crucially, as a distribution specialist that serves users and
works hand-in-hand with them, Hanwa gives deep consideration to
environmental, social and governance matters, contributing to
society at large and ensuring sustainable growth by pursuing
projects that prevent global warming and working with carefully
selected partners that maintain high ESG values.
Having engaged with each other over the past few months, Hanwa
has developed a good understanding of the Company's current and
forthcoming range of Products and has commenced initial discussions
with several target buyers. With the MoU in place, a deeper
engagement path is opened with end users that will enhance the
development of markets for the Products in the Territory including
Tirupati's flake graphite products from Madagascar and specialty
graphite products from its upcoming downstream specialty graphite
project in India.
[1] https://www.hanwa.co.jp/en/ir/finance/
** ENDS **
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc
Puruvi Poddar +44 (0) 20 3984 9894
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Daniel Ingram +44 (0) 20 3137 1902
---------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)
Isabel de Salis / Cosima Akerman +44 (0) 20 236 1177
---------------------
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is a revenue-generating, multi-asset,
multi-jurisdictional, fully integrated producer and developer of
high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite and graphene
and graphene enhanced advanced materials. With a unique set of
properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple growth
streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D and advanced
materials. The Company places a special emphasis on "green"
applications, including renewable energy and energy efficiency,
energy storage, thermal management, and advanced materials
development, and is committed to ensuring its operations are
sustainable as well.
The Company's operations include primary mining and processing
in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina; 3,000 tpa of high-quality flake graphite
concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being produced and
sold to customers globally, additional 9,000 tpa capacity expected
to be commissioned in Q2 2021, and this is planned to increase to
84,000 tpa by 2024 as per the Company's modular medium-term
development plan.
In India, through Tirupati Speciality Graphite Private Limited
('TSG'), with whom the Company has a binding acquisition agreement
subject to regulatory approvals, Tirupati is developing a suite of
speciality graphite for use in hi-tech applications like
lithium-ion batteries, fire retardants, thermal management, and
composites. Its current operations include the 1,200 tpa Patalganga
Project, which was commissioned in July 2019 to manufacture and
sell CARBOFLAMEX(R), a trademarked fire-retardant expandable
graphite product. TSG is further developing 30,000 tpa specialty
graphite project in two equal size modules and has developed unique
green processing technologies for manufacturing these advanced
materials.
TSG has also established and continues to develop the Tirupati
Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, a state-of-the-art R&D
centre focussed on manufacturing graphene, developing its
applications and advanced materials using graphene, and further
providing environmentally friendly technologies consultancy for
mineral processing.
About Hanwa
Hanwa is a trading company with operations spanning non-ferrous
metals, metals and alloys, food, petroleum and chemicals,
machinery, lumber and many other business sectors. The company has
solid positions in all of these businesses. As a trading company
that performs many important roles, Hanwa will continue to enter
more business fields in response to changes in the operating
environment in order to meet the needs of customers.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
MSCUVORRAOUBRAR
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 06, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Tirupati Graphite (LSE:TGR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Tirupati Graphite (LSE:TGR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024