The Battery Ledger

The Battery Supply Chain

The battery supply chain runs from the ground to the finished vehicle and back again. This tool walks the chain link by link, explains what happens at each one and shows who operates there. Select a link to see the companies working in it. Follow a material to see what happens to that material at each step, and which links it passes through.

Follow a material or component adds the explanation to each link
Chemistry filters the companies listed
The chain, in order, from the ground to the finished battery and back again

Every battery follows the same journey. Each step below is a link in that chain. Click any link to see the companies that operate there, in this directory.

  1. Mining — raw materials come out of the ground
  2. Refining — ore becomes battery-grade chemicals
  3. Active materials — the cathode and anode powders are made
  4. Electrolytes & separators — the other core cell materials
  5. Cell manufacturing — the cells themselves are built
  6. Module & pack — cells are assembled into packs
  7. OEM — packs go into vehicles and products
  8. Recycling — spent batteries are recovered, and the loop closes

Materials cross this chain more than once, and rarely in one country. Alongside it sit the companies that supply the equipment, do the research, and run the industry bodies.

Company entries are drawn from The Battery Ledger company directory, which is a curated selection rather than a complete register of the industry. The figures on each link count how many directory entries operate there; they describe the directory, not global capacity, production or market share, and should not be read as measures of concentration. Company activities change frequently, so confirm anything material directly with the company.

Figures in the material sections are sourced individually where they appear. Mine production shares are calculated from tonnages published in the US Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, covering 2025. Refining, component and capacity shares come from the International Energy Agency Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 and Global EV Outlook 2025, and describe 2023 and 2024 positions. Cell maker shares are from SNE Research for 2025. Component capacity ranges are from DGAP Memo No. 54, December 2025, citing Fraunhofer ISI. Refined lead output is from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group as cited by the USGS. Shares drawn from different measures do not align exactly, each is a dated snapshot, and percentages are rounded. Where no published share has been verified at source, the step is described without a figure rather than estimated.