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    Battery critical minerals

    Also known as battery minerals, battery raw materials, energy transition minerals

    Batteries depend on a handful of critical minerals, mainly lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite, whose refining is heavily concentrated in China.[1][2] Lithium prices more than doubled into early 2026, and China has repeatedly used export controls, including battery and graphite controls announced in October 2025 and suspended until November 2026; lithium prices then fell back in the third quarter of 2026.[3][4][5][6]

    Editor reviewedUpdated WikiBatteries and energy storage, Energy and climate, Science
    Key facts

    What batteries are made of

    Lithium-ion batteries need lithium in every cell, nickel and cobalt in NMC cathodes, and graphite in most anodes.[7][8] Researchers have warned that scaling battery deployment 100-fold would put great stress on supplies of lithium, nickel and cobalt.[1] Chemistry choices change the mix. LFP uses abundant iron, high-nickel NMC uses relatively little cobalt, and sodium-ion storage cells avoid cobalt and nickel entirely.[9][8][10] Flow batteries mostly use vanadium, which is hard to extract and mined mainly in Russia, China and South Africa.[11][12]

    Concentration in China

    The IEA says China accounted for over three quarters of the growth in refined supply of key energy minerals other than nickel.[2] The number of mineral tariff codes covered by Chinese export controls has tripled since 2023.[13] Graphite is a particular pressure point: the IEA estimates that full export controls would put over 300 billion dollars a year of downstream production at risk.[14]

    Prices in 2025-2026

    Lithium prices at the start of 2026 were more than twice their level a year earlier, and cobalt prices doubled too.[3] The IEA attributes the lithium surge to strong demand from energy storage combined with constrained supply.[15] It also points to low inventories in China and disruptions such as the suspension of CATL’s Jianxiawo mine, and notes that prices were still about 70% below their 2022 peak.[16] The spike then partly reversed. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence tracked a 20.8% fall in Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in the third quarter of 2026, to 127,750 yuan a tonne, extending a correction that began in the second quarter.[6] Benchmark said a Chinese pause on approvals of new battery cell capacity, together with market rumours, helped push prices down at the end of the quarter.[17]

    Cobalt shows how much one supplier matters. The Democratic Republic of the Congo supplies almost two-thirds of the world’s cobalt. Its temporary export ban from February 2025, which became export quotas from 16 October 2025, doubled prices.[18] The effect on battery costs is smaller than it once was, because LFP contains no cobalt and high-nickel chemistries use little.[8] Battery pack prices still fell 8% in 2025, because overcapacity, competition and cheaper LFP outweighed higher metal costs.[19][20]

    Export controls and trade

    On 9 October 2025 China announced controls, due to start on 8 November, on high-energy lithium-ion cells, cathode materials and precursors, graphite anodes, and related equipment and technology.[4] On 7 November 2025 it suspended them, along with related rare-earth controls, until 10 November 2026. The legal framework remains in place.[5][21] In the same deal the US paused its own export “Affiliates Rule” until 9 November 2026, a rule covered in the US AI chip export controls tracker.[21] In late September 2026 the two countries extended their truce to 10 January 2027, but China’s statement did not explicitly confirm a new end date for its suspended controls.[22] The US raised Section 301 tariffs on Chinese natural graphite and non-EV lithium-ion batteries to 25% from January 2026.[23]

    Diversification and recycling

    Building supply elsewhere is hard: new projects in diverse regions often cost more than incumbent suppliers.[24] Recycling could reduce the need for new mining by 25-40% by 2050 in the IEA’s pledges scenario, though average recycling rates for key minerals are only around 10% today.[25][26]

    Next in the crash course

    Batteries and energy storage

    Battery recycling

    How lithium-ion battery recycling works as an industry: feedstock, China's capacity lead, EU recycled-content rules and why volumes lag until the 2030s.

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    Questions readers ask

    Which minerals do batteries need most?

    Lithium, nickel and cobalt for cathodes and graphite for anodes. Scaling deployments 100-fold would put great stress on lithium, nickel and cobalt supply chains.[1][7]

    Why does China matter so much?

    China accounted for over three quarters of the growth in refined supply of key energy minerals other than nickel, and the number of mineral codes under Chinese export controls has tripled since 2023.[2][13]

    What happened to lithium prices?

    They more than doubled between early 2025 and early 2026, driven partly by strong demand for energy storage.[3][15]

    Can supply be diversified?

    It is possible but costly. The IEA notes new projects in diverse regions often cost more than incumbent suppliers.[24]

    Sources

    · 27 claims from 15 publishers

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Tap a number in the text to see its sources in place.

    1. [1]

      The University of Washington's Clean Energy Institute notes that multiplying today's battery deployments 100-fold would strain supplies of lithium, nickel and cobalt. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    2. [2]

      The IEA says China accounted for over three quarters of the growth in refined supply of key energy minerals other than nickel. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    3. [3]

      Lithium prices at the start of 2026 were more than twice their level a year earlier, and cobalt prices also doubled over the year. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    4. [4]

      On 9 October 2025 China announced export controls, due to take effect on 8 November 2025, on high-energy lithium-ion cells (300 Wh/kg and above), cathode materials and precursors, graphite anode materials, and related equipment and technology. confirmedas of 2025-10-14

    5. [5]

      On 7 November 2025 China suspended the October 2025 battery and graphite anode export controls, together with related rare-earth measures, until 10 November 2026. confirmedas of 2025-11-13

    6. [6]

      Benchmark Mineral Intelligence tracked a 20.8% fall in battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China in the third quarter of 2026, to 127,750 yuan a tonne, extending a correction that began in the second quarter. confirmedas of 2026-10-02

    7. [7]

      Graphite anodes store lithium ions by intercalation, in which the ions slot in between the two-dimensional graphene layers that make up graphite. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    8. [8]

      The IEA says high-nickel chemistries use relatively small quantities of cobalt, and that together with LFP they account for the vast majority of the EV battery market. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    9. [9]

      Polyanion cathodes such as lithium iron phosphate cut cost by using abundant metals like iron and are more thermally stable and safe, but have poor electronic conductivity and lower densities. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    10. [10]

      CATL's sodium-ion storage cell is cobalt-free and nickel-free and uses aluminium foil instead of copper foil. reportedas of 2026-04-20

    11. [11]

      The most widely used flow battery design uses vanadium in different oxidation states on its two sides. confirmedas of 2023-04-07

    12. [12]

      Vanadium is widespread but dilute and hard to extract, production is concentrated in Russia, China and South Africa, and its prices are high and volatile. confirmedas of 2023-04-07

    13. [13]

      The number of mineral tariff codes subject to Chinese export controls has tripled since 2023. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    14. [14]

      The IEA estimates that full export controls on graphite would put over 300 billion US dollars a year of downstream production at risk. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    15. [15]

      The IEA says lithium prices more than doubled amid strong demand from energy storage and constrained supply. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    16. [16]

      The IEA attributes the early-2026 lithium price rise to faster-than-expected demand, especially from battery storage, low inventories in China and supply disruptions such as the suspension of CATL's Jianxiawo mine; prices were still about 70% below their 2022 peak, and the IEA said a sustained rise could push up lithium-ion battery prices and reinforce the momentum behind sodium-ion. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    17. [17]

      Benchmark Mineral Intelligence reported that in the third quarter of 2026 the Chinese government paused approvals of new energy storage cell capacity expansions, and later of EV cell expansions, which together with market rumours helped push lithium prices down at the end of the quarter. reportedas of 2026-10-02

    18. [18]

      Cobalt prices doubled after the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which supplies almost two-thirds of the world's cobalt, imposed a temporary export ban in February 2025 that became export quotas from 16 October 2025. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    19. [19]

      BloombergNEF's 2025 survey found average lithium-ion battery pack prices fell 8% from 2024 to a record low of 108 US dollars per kilowatt-hour. confirmedas of 2025-12-09

    20. [20]

      BloombergNEF attributed 2025 price falls to cell manufacturing overcapacity, intense competition and the shift to lower-cost LFP batteries, despite higher battery metal costs. confirmedas of 2025-12-09

    21. [21]

      Legal analysts note that although enforcement of China's battery export controls is on hold, the legal framework remains in place, and the US paused its own export "Affiliates Rule" until 9 November 2026 in the same deal. confirmedas of 2025-11-13

    22. [22]

      In late September 2026 the US and China extended their trade truce, due to end on 10 November 2026, to 10 January 2027; China's Commerce Ministry statement did not explicitly say whether its suspended export controls would follow the new date. confirmedas of 2026-09-28

    23. [23]

      Under Section 301 tariff increases finalised in September 2024, US tariffs on Chinese lithium-ion EV batteries rose to 25% in 2024, and tariffs on non-EV lithium-ion batteries and natural graphite rose to 25% from 1 January 2026. confirmedas of 2024-09-24

    24. [24]

      New mineral projects in geographically diverse regions often cost more than incumbent suppliers, which complicates investment decisions. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    25. [25]

      The IEA estimates a successful scale-up of recycling could cut the need for new mining by 25-40% by 2050 in a scenario meeting national climate pledges. reportedas of 2024-12-01· forecast

    26. [26]

      Under current policies, average recycling rates for key energy minerals could rise from around 10% today to close to 20% by 2040. reportedas of 2026-10-10· forecast

    27. [27]

      CATL reported 2025 revenue of 423.7 billion yuan (up 17%), net profit of 72.2 billion yuan (up 42%) and battery shipments of 661 GWh (up 39%). confirmedas of 2026-03-10

    Revision history (2)
    1. Added the drivers of the lithium spike and its third-quarter 2026 reversal, the DRC cobalt export curbs, the US-China truce extension and a link to the parallel US chip export-control rules.
    2. Page created.

    Created Oct 10, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 10, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 10, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "Battery critical minerals." ContentLora, updated Oct 11, 2026. https://contentlora.com/wiki/battery-critical-minerals

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    Battery recycling Recovered bySodium-ion batteries Largely avoided byFlow batteries Vanadium used inCATL Major buyer
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