Following Chinese battery graphite through third-country factories to US supply chains
Chinese companies make almost all of the world's battery anode material, and they are now building factories in Indonesia, Morocco, Oman, Malaysia, the EU and the US itself. We traced twelve of these supply chains through trade and company records to show where the material goes, who owns each plant, and how sure we can be of each link.
Why this matters
Every EV battery needs graphite
A lithium-ion battery has two electrodes. The anode side is almost always graphite, mined (natural) or made from petroleum coke (artificial). Graphite is roughly a fifth of a battery cell's weight.
China makes almost all of it
China produces over 90% of the world's battery anode material. US cell plants (Ultium, SK, Tesla and others) still need it. So Chinese makers like BTR and Zhongke are opening factories in other countries.
The US now asks who owns the factory
Since July 2025, US battery makers can lose clean-energy tax credits if too much of a part's cost comes from a "prohibited foreign entity", in practice often a Chinese-owned company. Anti-dumping duties were voted down in March 2026, though US producers are appealing. For now, ownership is the main lever.
How a "rerouted" supply chain would look in the data
We look for three kinds of link. Each is drawn the same way everywhere on the site, with both colour and line style.
Shipping Chinese material through a factory abroad is legal and common. The pattern only tells a buyer where to ask questions.
Watch each supply chain move across the map
Choose a plant on the map or in the list. The route plays in order, from the mine or first supplier, through the plant, to where the output goes and who owns it. We only draw what the records show, so some routes start late or stop early.
What we found
One plant per case: the short answer, and a link to the full case file.
The rules changed. Ownership is now the pressure point
Duties on Chinese anode material were voted down in March 2026, and that vote is under appeal. The tax-credit test on who owns suppliers stays. Every date below was checked against a source.
Key terms
Show the eight terms used on this site
- Anode
- The negative side of a battery. In lithium-ion batteries it's almost always graphite.
- Natural vs. artificial graphite
- Natural graphite is mined (HS 2504). Artificial graphite is made by baking petroleum coke (HS 3801). Battery anodes use both.
- HS code
- The product code on every customs record. HS 3801.10 = artificial graphite; 2504 = natural graphite; 2713 = petroleum coke.
- Prohibited foreign entity (PFE)
- A company owned or controlled by a "foreign entity of concern" such as China. US battery makers lose tax credits if too much of a component's cost comes from PFEs.
- Anti-dumping / countervailing duties
- Extra tariffs on goods sold below fair value or subsidised. Commerce found grounds for them on Chinese anode material; the USITC voted them down. US producers are appealing.
- Third-country plant
- A factory outside China, often Chinese-owned, that processes Chinese inputs before export.
- Sayari
- A database linking company registries, ownership and customs records from 250+ jurisdictions. We queried it through its MCP server.
- Entity resolution
- Deciding whether several database records are really one company. Customs records spell names differently, so one factory can appear many times.