Manufacturing Chokepoints in Critical Mineral Supply Chains
Facts checked against sources on . How we check facts.
Manufacturing chokepoints are the stages where a few countries or companies make a material or component that others need. In 2025 Chinese companies supplied more than 94% of electric vehicle anode material, the Congressional Research Service says China makes about 94% of rare earth magnets, China produced 99% of primary gallium, and Hunan Yuneng alone shipped 1.14 million tonnes of the 4.95 million tonnes of cathode material. These stages sit after mining and refining, so securing a mine does not secure the product.
94%+
of EV anode material shipped in January-September 2025 came from Chinese companies
Source: SNE Research
1.14 Mt
of cathode material shipped by Hunan Yuneng in 2025, about 23% of the 4.95 Mt world total
Source: SNE Research
70%
of world titanium sponge production in 2025 was Chinese (260,000 t of 370,000 t)
Where are the manufacturing chokepoints?
The table shows the main ones with the latest measured share and the policy response. Shares are for different years and measures, so they are not directly comparable.
| Product | Concentration | Policy response |
|---|---|---|
| Cathode active material | Hunan Yuneng 1.14 Mt of 4.95 Mt in 2025; the top six producers shipped about 49% (calculated); lithium iron phosphate was 72% of shipments (SNE Research) | No specific measure is named in the sources used here; see the EV battery page |
| Anode material and graphite | Chinese companies over 94% of EV anode material; Shanshan and BTR about 41% (calculated); China exported 37,400 t of spherical purified graphite in January-September 2025, up 29% (SNE Research, USGS) | Preliminary US antidumping duty of 93.5% and countervailing duties of 11.58% to 721.03% on Chinese anode material in 2025 |
| Permanent magnets | China about 94% of manufacturing; about 90% of processing and magnet fabrication capacity (CRS, BISI) | US defense rule from 1 January 2027; EU recycled-content disclosure from 24 May 2027 |
| Semiconductor materials | China 99% of primary low-purity gallium and 70% of indium; leading germanium producer (USGS, USGS, USGS) | Gallium and germanium covered by the US defense rule from 18 December 2027; Department of Energy and Department of War funding for recovery projects |
| Titanium sponge | China 260,000 t of 370,000 t; the US produced none (USGS) | Titanium powder from scrap scaling up in Virginia, aiming at 1,400 t a year in 2027 |
| Tungsten products | China 67,000 t of 85,000 t of mine output (USGS) | Tariffs of 50% on several Chinese tungsten products from the end of 2024; US defense rule from 2027 |
| Electric vehicles | Chinese automakers made 60% of electric cars sold in 2025 (IEA) | US clean vehicle credit ended for vehicles acquired after 30 September 2025 |
The IEA site blocks automated readers, so the electric vehicle figure was read from press reports of the IEA outlook. SNE Research figures cover electric vehicle installations.
Why do these chokepoints persist?
They persist because manufacturing builds on processing and scale, and Chinese producers have both. Cathode and anode makers sit next to the cell factories that buy their output, and the same applies to magnets, where the Congressional Research Service reports that China mines about 60% of rare earths, processes about 90% and makes about 94% of the magnets. The share rises at each stage, which is why diversifying only the mining step changes little. The chain is described on the supply chain page and the reasons on why China dominates processing.
What is changing?
Plants outside China are starting but are small against the chokepoints. Outside China the EV anode market was 363,000 tonnes in January-September 2025, up 30.9%, but Korean and Japanese anode makers held only about 3.3% and 2.6% of shipments. Neo Performance Materials began magnet shipments from Estonia in September 2026 and eVAC opened a 2,000-tonne plant in South Carolina in July 2026, against Adamas Intelligence's count of nearly 80,000 tonnes a year of announced non-Chinese magnet capacity for 2030. See magnet makers and battery materials companies.
Frequently asked questions
What is a manufacturing chokepoint?
A manufacturing chokepoint is a stage of the supply chain where a few countries or companies make a material or component that many others depend on. Examples are cathode and anode materials, rare earth magnets and semiconductor materials.
Who makes most battery anode material?
Chinese companies make most battery anode material. SNE Research reports that they supplied more than 94% of EV anode material in January to September 2025, with Shanshan and BTR the two largest producers.
How much of the world's rare earth magnet production is in China?
About 94% of rare earth magnet production is in China according to the Congressional Research Service, and China also processes about 90% of rare earths.
Why does mining outside China not solve the problem?
Mining outside China does not solve the problem because processing and manufacturing are more concentrated than mining. The CRS says China mines about 60% of rare earths but processes about 90% and makes about 94% of magnets.
Sources
Read on October 12, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- SNE Research: LFP dominates cathode market with 72% share in 2025 (June 2026)
- SNE Research: Global EV battery anode material installment, January-September 2025
- Congressional Research Service: Rare Earth Elements and U.S. Supply Chains (IF13171)
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Graphite, gallium, indium, germanium, titanium, tungsten
- Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute (30 September 2026)
- IEA: Global EV Outlook 2026, executive summary
- Adamas Intelligence: Rare Earth Magnet Market Outlook, top predictions for 2026
