The United States is actively promoting the “de-Chinafication” of global battery supply chains, with Washington already funding an Australian group to build a new high-performance battery raw materials factory in the U.S.
According to the Financial Times, the U.S. Department of Energy has provided $755 million in conditional loan support for a new plant located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The plant, built by Australia’s Novonix Group, will become the first large-scale synthetic graphite production facility in North America upon completion.
Novonix CEO and former Tesla engineer Chris Burns stated on Tuesday, December 17th, that this deal highlights the necessity of developing alternative supply chains for electric vehicles, noting that China’s market share in graphite for automotive batteries exceeds 95%.
Relying on its production advantage in graphite, China has imposed restrictions on the export of this material. Earlier this month, Beijing tightened export controls on critical minerals in retaliation against Washington’s new wave of sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party.
Burns remarked, “China recently announced further scrutiny over the export of battery-grade graphite to the U.S. This underscores the importance of domestic production of high-performance synthetic graphite.”
The battery material company based in Brisbane, whose shareholders include South Korea’s LG Energy Solution and has supply agreements with Panasonic and Stellantis.
According to Novonix, the plant is expected to reach full production by 2028 and is projected to produce enough graphite annually to supply 325,000 electric vehicles.