South Korea is looking to African countries to secure graphite as China tightens its exports controls over the key material used in electric vehicle batteries.

Mozambique and Tanzania are among countries that South Korea plans to tap into to address potential shortfalls, the trade ministry said on Monday in a statement. Last week China strengthened export controls on some categories of graphite in a move it said will “safeguard national security and interests”.

China is the world’s largest producer of graphite and its announcement has raised alarm among major South Korean battery makers. Beijing said it will place graphite deemed highly sensitive under “dual-use item” export controls from 1 December.

Graphite is essential for producing EV battery anodes, a terminal inside a rechargeable cell. China’s announcement came days after the US bolstered efforts to keep advanced chip technology out of China. Beijing said its measures don’t target any specific country.

South Korea will expand high-level diplomatic dialogue with China to ensure smooth graphite imports, the trade ministry said. It will also seek to bring forward the operational start of a domestic synthetic graphite factory currently scheduled to open next year while bolstering the development of silicon anodes as an alternative to graphite.

Korea’s announcement came after officials met with representatives from major battery industry players — LG Energy Solution, SK On, Samsung SDI and Posco Future M. The country relies heavily on imports to produce everything from semiconductors to EV batteries. — Sam Kim, (c) 2023 Bloomberg LP