With geopolitical trade tensions disrupting supply chains of critical raw materials, expectations are emerging that the majors will start to make moves in commodities they have not typically held in their portfolios, like graphite.
Late last year, China expanded its restrictions on graphite exports, severely limiting supply to the US in response to President Donald Trump’s hefty trade tariffs on the Asian powerhouse.
China controls over 95% of global battery grade graphite supply – the largest input in lithium-ion batteries by weight, according to Stanford University.
James Cross, CEO of Canadian graphite explorer E-Power Resources (CSE:EPR), tells Mining.com.au, China’s decision to stop shipping graphite to the US has “some manufacturers in a bit of a tizzy”.
A 50 kilowatt-hour electric vehicle battery requires 100kg of graphite, substantially more than the lithium, manganese, cobalt and nickel combined that is needed to make the battery.
Graphite is used to make the anode – the negative terminal – in a lithium-ion battery. This is due to its increased electrical conductivity and stability.
Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has revised its 2026 production guidance up 30% to 1,300 gigawatt hours, which Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) says signals the resilience of China’s electric vehicle and energy storage markets.
BMI forecasts a 140% increase in natural graphite demand by 2030 which will require an extra 1.7 million tonnes of material.
This equates to around 31 new natural graphite mines and 12 new synthetic graphite plants globally to provide that supply.
But the US and Australia have no producing mines and Canada only has one small operation that contributes less than 1% of global graphite supply.
“I think we’ll probably see Glencore-type companies going into it, or Rio Tinto, and maybe even in partnership with a couple of manufacturers who desperately need it, but they’re not there yet,” Cross says.
“So they’re going to have to get there and then start fast tracking things or industry in the West is really going to shut down.”
One of the largest oil companies in the world, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), earlier this month revealed its planned entry into the battery anode graphite market with the acquisition of Superior Graphite.
This gives the major ownership of a 12,000-tonne-per-annum synthetic graphite plant in Kentucky, where commercial production is scheduled for 2029.
Stanford University-led industry roundtables held in Washington DC earlier this year highlighted the urgency in addressing China’s stranglehold on the graphite market.
William Chueh, director of Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy, says the industry is facing a critical moment.
“The demand for graphite in batteries has quadrupled in the past five years, and it has no substitute,” he says.
“Adding to the challenge is the time required to qualify graphite produced in new factories, taking multiple years. We need to shorten that timeline.”
E-Power is advancing exploration, evaluation, and resource definition at the Tetepisca Flake Graphite Project in Québec, Canada.
Phase-one results from the 2025 exploration program returned several samples greater than 10% graphitic carbon, including one sample grading 68.7% graphitic carbon from Graphi-Centre – the highest priority target at Tetepisca.
E-Power also discovered a new flake graphite showing which includes a grab sample of 54.7% graphitic carbon located on a long conductive linear trend on the southwestern part of the property.
The broader Tetepisca Graphite District hosts defined measured and indicated resources of over 120 million tonnes at an average grade of about 14% graphitic carbon and reserves totalling 4.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 27.8% graphitic carbon.
E-Power yesterday (23 September) announced the appointment of Alexander Haffmans as a director.
Haffmans is a serial entrepreneur and businessman from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, specialising in the food and agriculture industries.
He has been a senior manager and business developer internationally including ventures and operations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
The appointment comes as Gabriel Erdelyi steps down as a director.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: E-Power Resources
