Graphene Manufacturing Group wins REACH approval for European expansion – ICYMI

Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd (TSX-V:GMG, OTCQX:GMGMF) managing director and CEO Craig Nicol talked with Proactive about the company’s recent regulatory and commercial developments.

Nicol confirmed that the company had successfully secured REACH registration for Europe, a move that unlocks access to major markets for GMG’s coatings and lubricants.

Proactive: Hello, you’re watching Proactive. Joining me is Graphene Manufacturing Group Managing Director and CEO Craig Nicol. Craig, good to speak with you, and congratulations on getting that REACH registration. How significant is this milestone for GMG and what does it mean for THERMAL-XR sales in Europe?

Craig Nicol: Yeah, thanks for having me back on. REACH registration is always significant. There’s obviously a significant market for our coating and our lubricant in Europe. Obviously, G LUBRICANT has a very large market opportunity in Europe, helping diesel and petrol engines reduce their emissions and save fuel. So we’re very happy to get this REACH registration. There was definitely some complexity involved. It’s not the usual thing, but we got through that. And now we’re focusing on going through to our distributors—who we’re already working with—and making sure they know how to get orders in place and move to the next phase of actually taking those orders and delivering them.

Where do you see the biggest commercial opportunities emerging for THERMAL-XR, and how does this fit into your global rollout strategy?

Yeah, so THERMAL-XR has many different angles to it. It’s a gift that keeps giving—that’s the best way to describe it. We’re obviously waiting for the EPA approval in America, which we are hoping to get by the end of this year in December. That will result in large volumes coming through from our partner, Nu-Calgon, who is the largest distributor of HVACR chemicals in North America. That’s still the biggest market for coatings in the world. Coatings on air conditioning systems are well understood in North America. In Europe, it’s probably less so. It’s a smaller market, and people also use coatings and air conditioners less frequently. There’s more usage in the Mediterranean regions, where air conditioning is more common.

So, while REACH registration helps with various products, the ability to sell G LUBRICANT into Europe is really the big opportunity. That product offers a significant amount of truck fuel savings that we can provide to our potential distributor customers across Europe. That’s one of the big things we’re really excited about.

You just launched the GMG Spray Academy. What’s the purpose behind it and how will training accredited technicians help scale adoption of THERMAL-XR?

Yeah, so spraying our coating is something that we’ve recognised we need to help the industry with. It’s not that we’re the only ones who know how to do it, but we have to enable people to do it properly. It’s not complicated, but you do need training. Then we can offer certification. We provide that through the Spray Academy online, so people anywhere in the world can access it. We’re also launching e-learning soon, so it can be done at any time, anywhere.

Once you’ve done the training and are certified by us, you can then provide the five-year warranty for the coating, which is significant. That provides customers with peace of mind. The service must be done by an accredited provider in order to qualify for that warranty. That’s one of the main benefits of going through the Spray Academy.

Craig, with European market access now secured and training programs underway, what are the next major milestones or catalysts that investors should be watching out for?

Yeah, we’re really looking to crystallise some distributor orders. Some will come through but may not be announced, while others—if larger—will be announced. We’ll work that out as they come. We’ll generally be taking orders from palletised stock. As those progress and we start getting stock in, we’ll be able to ship that out.

We’ve already launched the order process and the entire supply program for that. We’re in the process of creating warehouses and choosing logistics partners. So the whole delivery mechanism is being built—or is almost completely built. The order process system is there, and we’re continuously upgrading and building our sales team as well. All of that enables us to have both a sales and delivery machine, which is what’s needed to fulfil what will be thousands of units at a time. That’s really what customers are looking for.

Quotes have lightly edited for clarity and style