The world's largest electric car company, Tesla, recently signed an agreement to obtain material used in electric batteries from graphite from a mine in Mozambique.

According to VOA, the company will obtain Anode Active Material (AAM) from the mine in Balama, in Cabo Delgado province, operated by the Australian company Syrah Resources Limited and reportedly the world's largest deposit of high quality graphite.

The material will be taken to a plant in Vidalia, in the US state of Louisiana.

The factory is being expanded and, according to a statement from the Australian company, Tesla will get most of the production capacity at a fixed price for four years.

Tesla has the option to expand the purchase if Syrah expands its production capacity.

The complex in Louisiana plans to use graphite from Mozambique to become the first source of supply within the United States of graphite anode for the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry and the lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry.

The agreement confirms Mozambique's graphite as a product of strategic importance for use in new energies.

The world's largest producer of graphite is China, and recently Tesla, whose largest shareholder is South African/American Elon Musk, had asked the U.S. government to eliminate tariffs on Chinese graphite imports.

The Bloomberg news agency said that China currently produces nearly half of all graphite used in the production of anode materials and demand is expected to increase fivefold by the end of the next decade.

That financial agency's Strategic Research Department quoted Syrah's managing director, Shaun Verner, as saying that "this concentration poses a risk to rivals who want to build domestic battery supply chains, such as the United States and Europe."

Major electric vehicle producers are currently searching across the world for lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite for use in their batteries.

Graphite production in Balama resumed in March after a halt in 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a 65% reduction in the workforce.

It is unknown whether rebel activities in Cabo Delgado have had any influence on Syrah's plans in Balama, which is, however, located in the south of the province, in an area so far unaffected by insurgents.

Syrah says on its web portal that the Balama mine has a 50-year production expectation and the concession occupies an area of 106 square kilometers.