Oct 26 (Reuters) - Australian producer Syrah Resources (SYR.AX) on Thursday said it expects buyers outside of China to step up their purchases of natural graphite before stricter export controls on the battery material came into effect on December 1. China, the world's largest graphite producer and exporter, will require export permits as of Dec. 1 for some graphite products, including spherical graphite used by electric vehicle makers. The export controls could mean that automakers and suppliers of battery materials will have to accelerate their search for alterative sources of the mineral. Syrah said that, based on feedback from its customers and analysts, buyers are looking to stockpile graphite to reduce the risk of near-term supply disruptions ahead of the ban, and ahead of China's winter when it tends to produce less natural graphite. "Any disruption or reduction in China anode precursor or AAM export supply without replacement supply would impact battery production outside China," it said.

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Persons: Roushni Nair, Melanie Burton, Miral Organizations: Syrah Resources, Tesla, AAM, U.S . International Development Finance Corporation, Thomson Locations: Australian, China, Mozambique, Louisiana, Balama, United States, Bengaluru, Melbourne