Reducing its dependence on China, Tesla obtained key battery materials from Mozambique

Source: Science and Technology News (Taiwan)

Tesla, a major electric vehicle manufacturer, has reached an agreement with Australian graphite miner Syrah Resources to purchase graphite from Syrah's processing plant in Louisiana from the Mozambique mine in Africa. Analysts believe this is a first-of-its-kind deal that focuses on reducing dependence on Chinese graphite.

Graphite is a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. Under the agreement, Tesla plans to start buying 8,000 tons of graphite per year from Syrah's Louisiana plant in 2024.

Simon Moores of Intelligence supplier Benchmark Mineral Intelligence believes that Tesla's purpose of the deal is to improve its ability to make its own batteries and reduce its dependence on China, which dominates the global graphite market.

Moores pointed out that the United States hopes to build enough capacity to manufacture lithium-ion batteries at home, while producing batteries in the United States will reduce some of the problems Tesla faces in China.

Moores said graphite stores lithium inside batteries until it is needed by splitting into charged ions and electrons to generate electricity, and the battery industry has been facing a shortage of graphite supply in recent months. Tesla produces nearly 1 million electric vehicles a year, and the ability to procure enough batteries will be the biggest limiting factor.

Sam Abuelsamid, chief electric vehicle analyst at Guidehouse Insights, believes that Tesla's deal is expected to ensure a stable supply of relatively scarce battery raw materials due to the expected growth in demand for electric vehicles.

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