# Battery anode materials

The negative electrode powders, mostly synthetic graphite, that hold lithium in every lithium-ion cell; China makes over 90% and controls the know-how.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/

Specialty chemicals · Energy-transition chemicals · No. 67

- Product family
- Feedstock: Minerals and salts
- about 2.9 Mt shipped in 2025 (China-based producers), up 39%; synthetic graphite 2.67 Mt, natural graphite 0.21 Mt
- 15.0 t CO₂e per t
- HS 380190
 Specialty chemicals · Energy-transition chemicals · Foundation · Matter

The black powder inside every phone and EV battery is mostly graphite baked at 3,000 C, and China makes over 90%.

Chart: Illustration: Battery anode materials

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Refinery needle coke or natural graphite flake is crushed, shaped and then graphitised in furnaces at about 3,000 C for days before being coated.

##### Three things to know

1. Shipments grew 39% in 2025 to about 2.9 Mt, and GGII expects more than 3.7 Mt in 2026.
2. BTR and Shanshan each held about 21% of the market, so two Chinese firms supply roughly two-fifths of all anode.
3. Making synthetic graphite takes roughly 8-14 MWh of electricity per tonne, so plants cluster where Chinese power is cheap.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Coke or flake**Needle coke, petroleum coke or natural flake
2. 2 **Shaping**Crushed with pitch or milled into spheres
3. 3 **Graphitisation**Baked for days at about 2,800-3,000 C
4. 4 **Coating**Coated, purified and sized to cell specs
5. 5 **Battery anode**Spread on copper foil to hold lithium

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/anode_materials/links/index.md)