And here again. A little panic can't hurt. Imagine Volvo not getting any more - ok, they're Chinese too.

"Warning of crisis for key battery raw material

A shortage of a key battery raw material could put a brake onthe electric car revolution as China controls all graphite production.

Electriccar companies will have to deal with another supply chain crisis next year - asthe key raw material graphite will become a scarce commodity from 2022 onwards,predicts Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Onehundred percent comes from China

China controls the entire market for graphite (crystallisedcarbon), which is an important raw material for the production of lithium-ionbatteries as it is used in the anodes of the batteries. The material is minedin many parts of the world, but has to be processed before it can be used - andChina has a monopoly on that processing.

"One hundred percent of the world's processed graphitecomes from China, which is a significant problem in the supply chain. Theprimary problem with the supply chain is that there are no opportunities toprocess graphite outside of China at this time," said Don Baxter, CEO ofCeylon Graphite in an interview on the website Elektrek.

He sayscountries other than China need to secure their own graphite production -otherwise the battery revolution risks coming to a screeching halt.

"Securing graphite is important because we are in the middle of anenergy revolution but are totally dependent on China for materials. China is atleast a decade ahead of the West in terms of its ability to produce batteries,and it's believed they are likely to want to keep much of the materials forthemselves," Don Baxter tells Elektrek.

China may want to keep key rawmaterial for itself

Such investments are also in the pipeline - including inSweden's Vittangi, where Australian company Talga Resources plans to startmining in 2023, as Dagens PS previously reported.

Moreover, the graphite boom looks set to continuefor the foreseeable future.

"Graphite is and will be the material of choice for the next decade or two because other materials have disadvantages that prevent their use in batteries. For example, silicon is great for moving energy, but it expands and contracts during charging and discharging, making it unsuitable for batteries," Don Baxter, CEO of Ceylon Graphite, told Elektrek.

Read also: Swedish graphite for the automotive industry - major investments [Dagens PS]"