Global Value Chains: Graphite in Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles

This working paper focuses on graphite (an anode material), as part of a five-part series that examines the global value chains of successive production stages for lithium-ion battery raw materials.1 A notable feature of the graphite global value chain is that battery producers can select between natural graphite mined from ore deposits, artificial graphite produced from either calcined petroleum coke or coal tar pitch, or a blend of both depending on the desired performance characteristics. China dominates nearly every stage of the graphite global value chain, despite varying degrees of participation by Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Western Europe along successive stages. To diversify their global value chains, additional graphite firms, particularly those based in Australia, Canada, and India, are integrating their upstream mining or coal tar operations with downstream processing operations to provide anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Numerous efforts are also underway outside of China (including within the United States) to develop graphite processing and anode manufacturing capacity. Despite such ongoing supply diversification efforts, it will likely require several decades for the United States and other producers to establish such global value chains outside of China.