Brokerage house ICICI Securities expects that the Indian graphite companies will to continue their out performance over international players and increase their share in the global graphite market from 13% in 2009 to 18% in 2012.

The brokerage house said that “The Indian graphite sector is currently going through a phase of global out performance in a technology intensive industry on the back of cost competitiveness and sound operations of domestic graphite producers. Graphite demand has started improving globally. An improvement in steel production and robust product prices have led to a fine performance by Indian graphite players in 9MFY10 leaving global peers far behind. Capacity expansion is underway and low cost operations are ensuring better margins as compared to global peers.”

The brokerage house is initiating coverage on the graphite sector with a Strong BUY rating on HEG and an ADD rating on Graphite India.

(Sourced from IRIS.com)