Graphite can also be divided into two categories: natural graphite and artificial graphite. Natural graphite comes from graphite deposits, and natural graphite can also be divided into flake graphite, earthy graphite, and block graphite. The graphite obtained from natural mining contains a large amount of impurities, so it needs to be beneficiated to reduce its impurity content before it can be used. The main uses of natural graphite are to produce refractory materials, brushes, flexible graphite products, lubricants, lithium ion battery cathode materials, etc. Sometimes a certain amount of natural graphite is added to some carbon products produced.

In the carbon industry, the production volume of various artificial graphite products is large. Artificial graphite products are generally made from petroleum coke and asphalt coke that are easy to graphitize through a series of processes such as batching, kneading, molding, roasting, graphitization (high-temperature heat treatment), and mechanical processing, with a production cycle of tens of days.