MoU with Global Trading & Investment Company

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 ¥137.58 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 ¥1,745 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:

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®, 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.