Battery Supply Chains Exposed

Battery and electric-vehicle supply chains run on more than lithium and nickel. A disruption at the Strait of Hormuz can squeeze the petrochemicals behind separators, electrolytes, adhesives and plastics used across battery manufacturing. (asiatechlens.com) The Strait of Hormuz carried about 20 million barrels a day of crude oil and oil products in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency, and about 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade passed through it. The IEA said 80% of that oil was headed to Asia. (iea.org) The U.S. Energy Information Administration said flows through the strait averaged 20 million barrels a day in 2024, equal to about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. It also said there are few practical alternatives if shipments are blocked. (eia.gov) A battery cell is not just mined metal packed into a can. It also uses a thin plastic separator, liquid electrolyte solvents and polymer binders that come from oil-and-gas chemistry as much as from mining. (batteryuniversity.com; mdpi.com; mdpi.com) Battery University says the standard lithium-ion separator is made from polyolefin, typically polyethylene, polypropylene or both, and notes that ethylene comes from a petrochemical source. A 2021 review in *Molecules* said polyethylene, polypropylene and PE/PP separators are the commercial standard in lithium-ion batteries. (batteryuniversity.com; mdpi.com) Electrolytes rely on carbonate solvents including ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate and ethyl methyl carbonate. Recent battery research continues to treat those carbonate solvents as the baseline chemistry in commercial lithium-ion cells. (springer.com; mdpi.com; pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Outside the cell, electric-vehicle battery packs use epoxy, polyurethane and silicone adhesives, potting compounds and encapsulants to hold modules together, manage heat and protect against vibration. Those materials also sit inside the petrochemical chain. (springer.com; huntsman.com; epicresins.com) That is where the Hormuz risk spreads beyond fuel prices. ICIS said roughly 80% of Asia’s seaborne naphtha import demand in 2025 was covered by Middle East supply, and naphtha is a core feedstock for the crackers that make the building-block chemicals used in plastics and resins. (iom3.org) The chemicals market has already shown what that looks like when flows seize up. *Chemical & Engineering News* reported on March 5 that Singapore’s PCS, Indonesia’s Chandra Asri and South Korea’s Yeochun NCC had declared force majeure or cut output as Middle Eastern naphtha shipments were disrupted. (cen.acs.org) ICIS also said about 84% of Middle East polyethylene capacity relies on the Strait of Hormuz for waterborne exports, and listed methanol, polyethylene, ethylene glycol and polypropylene among the region’s key chemical exports. Those are upstream materials for packaging, plastics, solvents and industrial intermediates used throughout battery and vehicle factories. (iom3.org) S&P Global said at its World Petrochemical Conference in March that shipping disruptions in the strait were already forcing petrochemical companies to rethink routing and supply chains. For battery makers, the exposure is not only the metal inside the cell, but the chemical system wrapped around it. (spglobal.com)