2023-10-20 09:00:07
▲ POSCO FutureM artificial graphite cathode material plant. News 1 The Chinese government has decided to place graphite, a key raw material for electric vehicle batteries, under export control from the end of the year.
As China has launched a counterattack against the US sanctions on semiconductor technology, damage to the Korean battery industry, which relies more than 90% on Chinese graphite, is inevitable.
On the 20th, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs issued the ‘Notice on the Improvement and Adjustment of Temporary Export Control Measures for Graphite-Related Items’.
The items subject to export control this time are ▲high purity (purity exceeding 99.9%) ▲high strength (tensile strength exceeding 30㎫) ▲high density (exceeding 1.73g per cm3) artificial graphite materials and products ▲natural graphite such as spherical graphite and expanded graphite It’s a product. Export controls will take effect from December 1.
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said, “Export controls on certain graphite items are internationally accepted, and as the world’s largest producer and exporter of graphite, China has firmly fulfilled its international obligations, including non-proliferation, for a long time.”
Graphite is a raw material for anode materials, one of the four core materials that make up secondary batteries. It stores and releases lithium ions from the anode of secondary batteries, thereby allowing current to flow.
In particular, high-purity graphite is a key material needed to manufacture cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries, and China accounts for 67% of the global supply.
Accordingly, it seems difficult for Korea, which is highly dependent on China for graphite, to avoid the immediate impact. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, as of 2021, 87% of artificial graphite and 72% of natural graphite were imported from China.
China’s move to control graphite exports is interpreted as an attempt to counter U.S. sanctions against China.
Previously, on the 17th (local time), the U.S. Department of Commerce introduced ‘Popular Semiconductor Export Control Measures’, which prohibits the export of AI chips with specifications lower than those of advanced semiconductor equipment or artificial intelligence (AI) chips included in the export control measures in October last year. ‘ was announced.
Reporter Choi Jae-heon
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