Although China’s commerce ministry has issued no formal ban, many Chinese graphite exporters face a prohibition in all but name
. One company was told that licences to export graphite to Sweden were no longer being issued by Chinese regulators. Given that China supplies more than 60% of the world’s natural graphite and almost all the man-made version, the situation alarms producers that rely on China for the graphite anodes used in their cells. A halt in supplies from China can upset supply chains, raise costs and disrupt production.
Grasping the reasons behind the Swedish graphite ban could be just as important as dealing with it. At first blush, the ban appears to have been triggered by one of many small diplomatic spats between China and Sweden in recent years. In late 2019 Swedish, a free-speech advocacy group, gave an award to Gui Minhai, a publisher and dissident who is imprisoned in China. The Chinese embassy in Stockholm immediately lashed out with threats against Sweden.
As graphite exports to Sweden have slumped, China’s overall battery and electric-vehicle investments across Europe have soared. In Hungary China’s top battery-maker,, poured $8bn into a factory last year, which amounted to one of the biggest foreign investments ever made in the country. In Poland smaller but similar factories are being built by Chinese firms. At the same time, graphite exports to those two countries have rocketed.
As it happens, one of the most competitive firms in Europe’s nascent battery business is Northvolt of Sweden. The company has begun to expand in Europe and will receive subsidies to build new factories. It is unclear what impact, if any, the graphite ban has had on Northvolt. But it is believed to have the potential to raise costs at a time when competition to win market share is fiercer than ever.
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