June 12, 2026 • 6 min read
Building a competitive battery supply chain in the Americas
For North America and Europe, the window to build a resilient battery materials supply chain is shrinking. Staying competitive will depend on closing midstream gaps and delivering projects with greater execution discipline.
China now controls nearly 80 percent of the global battery supply chain, with over 90 percent of electric vehicles and storage batteries produced by Chinese and South Korean companies. This level of market dominance can’t be protected by tariffs, leaving North America heavily dependent on imports in the short term, with clear implications for long‑term competitiveness and supply chain security.
Coupled with low raw material costs, overcapacity across the battery supply chain is driving prices down. This imbalance has already stalled or derailed major battery and battery material projects across Europe and North America; yet new projects are on the horizon.
So how can they be de‑risked in a market where the barrier to entry is so high?
Key takeaways
- The window is closing
North America’s opportunity to build a competitive battery supply chain is shrinking as Asia strengthens its dominance. - The real gap is midstream
Without integrated midstream processing, the Americas lack the ecosystem needed to support a fully functioning battery supply chain. - Execution is where projects fail
Unrealistic timelines, immature technologies and permitting and labor constraints continue to stall or derail battery projects. - There’s a critical skills shortage
Limited local expertise in battery chemistry, engineering and manufacturing is increasing costs, delaying delivery and slowing industry growth. - It’s a ‘build or import’ moment
North America must invest in a localized supply chain or continue relying on imports, with growing geopolitical and economic risk.
The missing midstream in North America’s battery supply chain
China’s leading position in the battery supply chain isn’t accidental. It’s the result of an integrated ecosystem.
China’s leading position in the battery supply chain isn’t accidental. It’s the result of an integrated ecosystem built to encompass everything from precursor and cathode materials to anode manufacturing and recycling. South Korea and Japan have built similar supply chains, reinforcing Asia as the global epicenter of battery production.
“Asian producers source lithium, nickel and other raw materials globally, but they convert them into high value and high‑quality battery‑grade cathode and anode active materials at home,” explains Mike Placer, Vice President, Americas Resources Sector Lead. “This is where Asian companies have excelled and built decades of delivery experience.”
In contrast, battery plants in the Americas are being built without a comparable midstream foundation. Most battery plants in the US and Canada are led by Asian companies to support electric vehicle (EV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) markets, while major cathode projects by BASF, Umicore, Posco, EcoPro and ICL have been paused.
“There have been several announcements on local lithium and anode production projects, however only a couple, including Syrah Technologies, are producing at scale,” says Placer. “In South America, lithium carbonate and hydroxide production is scaling up, but it’s mainly for non‑American markets.”
This structural gap needs to be filled fast. In the recent past, projects have failed for a number of reasons. Success is a matter of leveraging those experiences.
Eight learnings for the path forward
Currently, many North American battery manufacturers have raised capital, bought land, developed technology, navigated incentives and grant programs, hired teams, secured off‑takers and feedstocks and in many cases broken ground. But with so many elements in play, the process is anything but predictable.
“Through our experience delivering over 350 mining and refining projects across raw materials, active materials and recycling, we’ve identified eight main pitfalls when it comes to delivering battery materials projects,” says Tara Carll, Resources Battery Materials Business Development Lead. “At the Volta Foundation webinar on June 23, we’ll discuss what it takes to make large scale projects a success with people who have the experience to prove it.”
From managing unrealistic schedules and underestimating the complexity of scaling first-of-a-kind technologies to securing permits for manufacturing plants and accessing skilled labor; many seasoned players struggle. Either because capital deployment is occurring in a new, unfamiliar technology arena, or because technology assets are being built in regions that require significant adaptations to meet local requirements.
“These project challenges aren’t new,” says Carll.
“In the battery value chain, more projects seem to fail compared to other markets. Contributing to this is lots of first‑of‑a‑kind technology being scaled with equipment that isn’t mature or whose supply chain is still maturing.”
Carll continues. “Even if the technology isn’t new, the teams on both the owner and the engineer side aren’t familiar with it. Either way, there is a learning aspect that Asian companies have had that America is still in the midst of.”
Finally, the battery value chain, especially the midstream, produces highly specific, battery‑grade (non-commoditized) products with dedicated off-takers who insist on a lengthy product qualification process. Any changes to specifications or volumes by the off‑takers have ramifications for any project.
Insights from our experience
Common stumbling blocks for battery projects and how to de-risk them.
- Business cases founded on poor schedule estimates create unnecessary pressure – for all involved.
- Opportunity: Increased robustness of front-end planning to de-risk delivery and improve confidence.
- Often not considered until too late.
- Ramp up failures widen gap between capital spend and revenue.
- Opportunity: Leverage established norms that exist in adjacent industries (McNully).
- High concentration of industrial activity and/or remote site locations will limit access to suitable construction workforce.
- This impacts costs, safety, quality and time.
- Vendor equipment is usually already on a critical path.
- Community and authorities are increasing scrutiny on waste streams and other impacts during permitting.
- Opportunity: By-product valorization and co-location synergies exist.
- Equipment vendors are vital to meeting scale up, lead times and innovations.
- Usually on critical path.
- Opportunity: Increase collaborative efforts and streamline interactions.
- Change is expected but greater discipline is needed to understand impact.
- Carried risks aren’t often understood by management boards.
- Opportunity: Design-in flexibility to mitigate obsolescence.
- Too big, too fast generates unmanageable risks in complex process environments.
- Opportunity: Leverage established industry norms from adjacent industries to help manage risk.
- Scale up and process engineering skills are in highest demand.
- Industry pace is faster than skills can develop or transition from adjacent industries.
- Owner’s team is stretched thin and/or inexperienced.
- High competition for experienced resources.
Overcoming the skills and expertise gap
North America’s struggle to build facilities across the battery value chain at scale isn’t just about investment or supply chains; it’s about execution.
“North America doesn’t have sufficient expertise in battery chemistry, engineering, manufacturing and large‑scale plant construction to design, build and operate its planned factories,” says Placer. “Instead, it relies on importing expertise from abroad.”
A 2024 report from the Center for Automotive Research found significant skills gaps across the battery industry, including electrochemistry, battery chemistry, manufacturing and system design. It also reported that 82 percent of companies struggle to find skilled local applicants, especially engineers and technicians.
Right now, the cost of building a battery or battery materials plant in North America and Europe is two to three times higher than in China or South Korea. This is largely due to inexperience. Learnings from each project drive costs down, but this can only happen if projects get off the ground, are engineered properly, built efficiently and commissioned successfully.
“A wider effort is needed to embed skills across the value chain, from research and development to full-scale factory operations.”
Mike Placer
“Without developing these skills locally, North America risks becoming an assembly hub rather than a true leader in battery innovation.”
Some argue that North America can leapfrog others by focusing on new battery technologies. But to fully benefit from future innovations, the region first needs to build capability with today’s leading technologies.
De-risking investment to unlock battery supply chain growth
Moving through the learning curve means absorbing higher upfront costs in the short term. This impacts return-on-investment metrics, making it essential to de‑risk other aspects of capital deployment to maintain a strong business case.
“Investing more in upfront engineering is a strategic move that mitigates risk and builds confidence among investors and shareholders,” says Placer. “Freezing process designs early while collaborating closely with key equipment suppliers helps control costs, minimize delivery risks and shorten lead times.”
“Sticking to a realistic delivery schedule, executing a smooth commissioning process and meeting start-of-production deadlines is critical to honoring supply agreements and ensuring the assets generate revenue as planned.”
Governments also play a crucial role in supporting industry. Financial incentives have been effective in reducing investment costs for new technologies, as seen in other regions such as Hungary and Poland. But funding alone isn’t enough.
“Streamlined permitting, regulatory stability and enabling infrastructure investments, like battery industrial clusters with access to affordable energy, are essential to lowering costs and attracting private investment.”
Mike Placer
It’s ‘build or import’ time for North America
North American car companies such as GM, Ford and Tesla are heavily involved and often have joint ventures with cell manufacturers. This is a great start, but the interest in the supply chain needs to go much deeper. These capital-intensive cell manufacturing plants rely on imported materials and come with a long supply chain, as well as geopolitical risks.
“The stars seem to have aligned on localized lithium and anode production, enabling players across the value chain to come together. Especially the oil majors with the know‑how to extract fluids from the earth.”
Tara Carll
Many are already producing the petcoke needed for synthetic graphite production at very large quantities, as explored at the 2026 PetCoke conference in San Diego. Combining this with expertise and technology to upgrade raw materials into high‑value, battery-grade performance materials would unlock significant progress towards a fully integrated and localized supply chain.
In the anode space, players like Vianode and Novonix are embarking on business strategies to do just this. In the lithium space, the challenge lies in the economic conversion of lithium-bearing brines to battery-grade carbonate or hydroxide, which is well established in South American brines.
The reality is clear: Execution defines success
North America has an opportunity to strengthen its strategy, technology and capacity in the battery value chain. While funding and tariffs can support progress, hands‑on experience is the key to building lasting capability. The focus must shift from planning and innovation to execution and collaboration. Going alone increases the risk of failure, but leveraging existing engineering expertise and industry know-how improves the odds of success.
“We’ve been working in this industry since the 1970s and there’s a significant amount of know‑how from engineering through to commissioning that can be leveraged to ensure the smooth delivery of these projects in North America.”
Tara Carll
Contributing authors
Mike Placer
Vice President, Americas Resources Sector Lead
Tara Carll
Resources Battery Materials Business Development Lead
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