EV Battery Makers Are Getting Their Hands on Everything
Shortages are hitting the entire electric vehicle supply chain — and now even easy-to-source elements like graphite are proving costly.
Demand pressures are pushing prices higher.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg/Getty Images
One of the most abundant and essential ingredients in electric vehicle batteries is beginning to experience demand pressures, showing how supply chain troubles are getting deeper and the value chain even more expensive.
Tesla Inc. last week signed a deal with Australian mining company Syrah Resources Ltd. to procure materials from the firm’s Louisiana operations, with the raw inputs coming from Mozambique. Meanwhile, South Korean firm POSCO, the largest natural graphite anode maker globally, bought a 15% stake in China’s Inner Mongolia Sinuo New Material Technology Co. Hong Kong-listed Graphex Group Ltd. recently set up a U.S. subsidiary and is looking to build a plant there. It also inked an agreement with German firm Desatec GmbH for processing and selling graphite materials and established a local manufacturing arm. Other, smaller firms are only now building facilities in North America.