EcoGraf’s US Graphite Refinery Clears Economic Hurdle with $282M NPV as HFfree Process Slashes Costs

EcoGraf reveals definitive economics for US spherical graphite plant with HFfree technology, showing 34% cost savings vs. conventional methods, targeting Western automakers.

The race to build non-Chinese battery-grade graphite supply chains just got a credible contender. EcoGraf has released definitive economics for its planned US purification plant, showing a pre-tax net present value of $282 million and an internal rate of return of 42% — numbers that put it squarely in the conversation for Western automakers and battery makers desperate for alternatives to Chinese dominance.

The 25,000-tonne-per-annum spherical graphite facility, which requires an initial capital outlay of $95 million, is expected to generate annual EBITDA of $42 million. Critically, the project’s viability rests on the company’s proprietary HFfree® technology, a fluoride-free purification process that the Australian group says costs just $478 per tonne — 34% less than the next cheapest industrial alternative, hydrofluoric acid cleaning at $721 per tonne.

EcoGraf’s cost advantage becomes even starker when stacked against other conventional routes: high-temperature chlorination runs at $954 per tonne, while ultra-high-temperature purification tops $1,005. The HFfree process, which produces graphite at 99.99% carbon purity (4N), achieves its savings through lower reagent consumption, reduced waste volumes, and cheaper disposal costs. The $478 per tonne figure is 25% below the company’s own estimate from July 2024.

That cost breakdown, validated by an independent global assessment, breaks into $146 for consumables and reagents, $274 for labour, and $58 for maintenance. Across seven evaluated sites in Asia, Europe and North America, the HFfree process remained competitive, with purification costs ranging from $359 to $571 per tonne depending on local energy prices.

EcoGraf has also qualified the technology for anode recycling, expanding its addressable market beyond primary production. Test programmes with battery market participants confirmed that the HFfree process can handle recycled anode material, opening the door to a circular supply chain.

The US plant’s integrated supply chain cost — covering raw materials, shaping, and purification — comes to roughly $1,441 per tonne. Of that, raw material procurement accounts for $544, shaping and processing $419, and the HFfree purification step $478. The company uses commercially available reagents that can be sourced in Europe, North America and Asia, a key selling point for manufacturers looking to localise their supply chains.

Financing support is already taking shape. EcoGraf has secured €6.2 million in development funding, comprising €2 million from the European Investment Bank and €4.2 million from the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG). The funds are earmarked for expanding graphite processing capacity, though the company has not yet disclosed a timeline for breaking ground on the US site.

The stock has responded positively to the updates, climbing roughly 29% over the past seven sessions to trade at €0.24. That puts it well above its 52-week low of €0.15 from July 2025, though still a long way from the October high of €0.38. The 30-day annualised volatility stands at over 86%, underscoring the potential for sharp swings as the market digests the project’s economics.

With the project metrics confirmed and funding lines partially in place, EcoGraf moves closer to the commercialisation stage. The next critical test will be whether it can convert these paper economics into a fully financed, operating plant — and whether the market views the independent cost validation as sufficient catalyst, or waits for concrete construction milestones.