The US Congress are currently probing Ford's battery deal with China's CATL for their ownership stake in companies based in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) that allegedly are connected to forced labor practices.
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https://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/7.20.2023-Letter-to-Ford-China-Select-Ways-and-Means.pdfThe letter also mentions China's graphite exports to the EU:
"In June, reports indicated that European battery manufacturers were unable to source graphite from the PRC, causing “negative repercussions for battery production in Europe” according to the European Commission".
- https://www.economist.com/business/2023/06/22/why-is-china-blocking-graphite-exports-to-swedenInterestingly, there have also been reports that Shanghai Putailai (who are looking to establish an anode plant in Sweden) have also hidden their connections to the Xinjiang region.
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https://thediplomat.com/2023/06/now-you-see-me-now-you-dont-chinese-companies-vanishing-acts-in-xinjiang/"Against that horrific backdrop, just recently, a large Chinese battery maker, Shanghai-based Putailai (PTL), announced a decision to make a large investment in Sweden. PTL plans to build a factory in the small town of Torsboda near Timrå in northern Sweden, creating 1,900 jobs (of which perhaps 75 percent will go to locals, they added).
But PTL conveniently “forgot” to tell their Swedish partners that they have a subsidiary in Xinjiang, where a huge output of battery components is also planned. Its name is Xinjiang Zichen Tianshan New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (新疆紫宸天山新材料科技有限公司), located at Avenue 18-168, Huyanghe City. The area is under the administrative care of the Seventh Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the XPCC, or “Bingtuan,” the main military entity promoting China’s settler colonialism and exploitation of the resources of the region.
PTL’s scheming even fooled BusinessSweden, an entity supposed to have vetted the whole thing. Perhaps they only glanced at the company reports, where the word “Xinjiang” does not appear. True, the subsidiary does not show up on the official company map, but it can easily be found online. Its contact email address even ends in @putailai.com, the company’s official domain
I published an article in Swedish to draw attention to what was happening. This put the Swedish hosts in a bind, as they haphazardly relayed conflicting information from PTL: No such branch, the project manager said; it’s going to be sold anyway, the local mayor claimed. (Such transactions are apparently commonly done, to shield the real owners of Xinjiang assets.)
Then Swedish Radio journalists not only confirmed the existence of the subsidiary as I had described, but they also found several current ads on job sites in China, seeking managers for it. One desperate local Swedish politician, eager to be able to claim credit for job opportunities gained, even said: “It does not matter where the money comes from” – as if modern slavery sponsored by the state is not a big deal.
There's a lot to digest here, but it seems the EU/Sweden are in a real bind. They are being cut off from Graphite supply by China, and the Chinese company looking to establish themselves to supply graphite anode have alleged hidden links to Xianjing.
Why are they being cut off? From all reports there is currently an oversuply of graphite. Could this be China engaging in predatory behaviour to force the EU to look the other way, and muscle in on the EU anode market? It may also explain the price manipulation of the graphite market to make it harder for new suppliers to establish themselves, it's definitley hurting Syrah who are also trying to establish their anode business in the US.
The situation shows the serious risk in the battery supply chain with almost all anode supply coming from China.
Just if there was a European anode company looking to get started in Sweden....
(20min delay)