Graphite — More of It Than Anything Else, and Almost Nobody Watching
Roughly a third of a cell’s weight — more mass than lithium, nickel and cobalt combined. It is also the most concentrated supply chain in this series.
Ore to Vehicle · Part 3 — The Battery Materials · Chapter 8 · 18 min read
Part 3 — The Battery Materials
The largest mass, and the least attention
Graphite is roughly a third of a cell’s weight — more than lithium, nickel and cobalt combined.
It is also the most concentrated supply chain in this entire series, and it gets a fraction of the attention lithium does.
30–40 %
Spheroidisation yield
~80 %
China’s share of mined flake
~98 %
Its share of the anode market
~30 kWh/kg
To make synthetic graphite
8.1 — Natural flake, and the yield problem
- •1 · Mine and float. Flake graphite ore at 5–15 % C → repeated flotation → 94–97 % C concentrate. Graphite is naturally hydrophobic so flotation is easy; but flakes are fragile and must not be broken, so grinding is gentle and staged.
- •2 · Spheroidisation — the expensive step. Flat flakes are rounded into potato-shaped particles in an air-classifier mill, which raises tap density and lets lithium enter from all directions rather than only at flake edges. Yield is only 30 to 40 per cent. The other 60 to 70 becomes fine graphite powder sold into refractories, lubricants and pencils.
- •3 · Purification to 99.95 %+. Either thermal at ~2,800 °C, or chemical: SiO₂ + 6 HF → H₂SiF₆ + 2 H₂O, dissolving the silicate impurities. The HF route is cheap and creates a serious effluent problem; the thermal route is clean and enormously energy-hungry.
- •4 · Coating and carbonisation. Coated with a pitch-derived amorphous carbon layer, then carbonised → CSPG, coated spherical purified graphite. The coating controls SEI formation and first-cycle efficiency, and it is where most of the proprietary know-how sits.
In plain English
Start with a tonne of concentrate and you finish with roughly a third of a tonne of anode material. That yield, not the ore price, is why graphite anode economics are so much worse than they look — and why the step has proven so hard to relocate.
8.2 — Synthetic — starting from oil, not rock
Petroleum or coal-tar needle coke, calcined, shaped, then heated to ~3,000 °C in Acheson or lengthwise-graphitisation furnaces — weeks per batch, roughly 30 kWh per kg.
Synthetic graphite is more consistent, longer-cycling and much more expensive. Like aluminium, it is essentially a way of storing electricity in a material.
8.3 — The most concentrated chain here
Important
The concentration is extreme, and it has increased. When China first introduced graphite export controls at the end of 2023, it held around 60 per cent of mined natural graphite. Rather than triggering diversification, the controls were followed by more Chinese supply, falling prices and Western producers being squeezed out.
China’s share of mined natural graphite has since climbed to roughly 80 per cent, and its grip on the graphite anode market — natural and synthetic combined — now sits near 98 per cent, with more than 95 per cent of global anode processing. Even graphite mined elsewhere generally passes through Chinese plants to become an anode.
8.4 — The calendar that now runs procurement
8.4.1 — Status as of mid-2026
In October 2025 China placed lithium-ion batteries, cathode materials and artificial graphite anode materials under dual-use export controls, then suspended that decision in November 2025 following US–China talks.
The suspension runs to 10 November 2026, with a separate measure covering graphite exports to the US running to 27 November 2026. Both are pauses with an expiry date, not repeals — and that calendar is now the single most important date in battery procurement planning.
Quick check: test yourself
1.Why is graphite anode economics worse than the ore price suggests?
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2.Export controls were introduced in 2023 and China’s share went up rather than down. Why?
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3.What does the coating on CSPG actually do?
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Chapter summary
- ✓Graphite is roughly a third of a cell’s mass — more than lithium, nickel and cobalt combined — and receives a fraction of the attention.
- ✓Flotation is easy because graphite is naturally hydrophobic; spheroidisation is the expensive step at 30 to 40 per cent yield.
- ✓Purification runs either an HF route with an effluent problem or a 2,800 °C thermal route, and coating is where the proprietary know-how lives.
- ✓Synthetic graphite needs roughly 30 kWh per kilogram at 3,000 °C — like aluminium, it is stored electricity.
- ✓China holds roughly 80 per cent of mined flake and near 98 per cent of the anode market, and the export-control suspensions expire in November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why is spheroidisation the expensive step?+
Because the yield is only 30 to 40 per cent. Flat flakes are rounded into potato-shaped particles in an air-classifier mill, which raises tap density and lets lithium enter from all directions rather than only at flake edges. The other 60 to 70 per cent becomes fine graphite powder sold into low-value markets. Start with a tonne of concentrate and you finish with roughly a third of a tonne of anode material — which is why graphite anode economics are so much worse than the ore price suggests, and why the step has proven so hard to relocate.
How concentrated is the graphite anode chain?+
Extremely, and it has increased. When China first introduced graphite export controls at the end of 2023 it held around 60 per cent of mined natural graphite. Rather than triggering diversification, the controls were followed by more Chinese supply, falling prices and Western producers being squeezed out. China’s share of mined natural graphite has since climbed to roughly 80 per cent, and its grip on the graphite anode market — natural and synthetic combined — now sits near 98 per cent.
What is the difference between natural and synthetic graphite?+
Natural graphite is mined as flake, floated, spheroidised, purified and coated. Synthetic starts from petroleum or coal-tar needle coke, calcined and shaped, then heated to about 3,000 °C in graphitisation furnaces — weeks per batch at roughly 30 kWh per kilogram. Synthetic is more consistent and longer-cycling and much more expensive, and like aluminium it is essentially a way of storing electricity in a material.
What is the current status of Chinese graphite export controls?+
In October 2025 China placed lithium-ion batteries, cathode materials and artificial graphite anode materials under dual-use export controls, then suspended that decision in November 2025 following US–China talks. The suspension runs to 10 November 2026, with a separate measure covering graphite exports to the US running to 27 November 2026. Both are pauses with an expiry date rather than repeals, and that calendar is now the single most important date in battery procurement planning.
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Ore to Vehicle is an original educational series on the battery and EV materials supply chain. Country shares, grades, prices and policy status are approximate, drawn from public reporting as of mid-2026, and move year to year — treat them as orders of magnitude rather than as a ledger, and verify before relying on them commercially.