Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Canada is racing to refine this key battery ingredient at home

By Anam Khan
BNNBLOOMBERG

Canada’s battery supply chain story has a weak link: graphite.

Even if Canada mines lithium and builds battery plants, electric vehicles still need a lot of graphite for the anode, and most battery-grade processing is concentrated in China, which refines 90 per cent of the world’s supply.

Now, there is a concrete Canadian move to bring the refining process home.

Canadian mineral exploration company Nouveau Monde Graphite is backed by government funding and has supply deals with major buyers.

“We cannot just once again repeat the model that’s been used in the past, where we extract the resource, send it elsewhere to be refined and then purchase it back,” said Julie Paquet, a spokesperson for Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG)

Last month, the company secured a binding offtake agreement and a US$25 million investment from Panasonic Energy to support its Phase-2 Matawinie Mine and Battery Material Plant in Bécancour, Que.

Panasonic agreed to buy 13,000 tonnes of active anode material per year.

NMG also signed a deal to supply 18,000 tonnes per year of battery-ready anode material to General Motors.

Canada has the world’s 10th-largest graphite reserves, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Those deals matter because they help Canada move faster to build out its own supply chain, says Max Yerrill, a critical minerals analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

He says by increasing its graphite capacity and suppressing global prices, China has kept competitors out. It also used its leverage in the critical minerals markets, specifically graphite, and put export restrictions on it, creating a significant strategic vulnerability for Canada’s green energy goals.

“So building graphite in our own backyard is a huge strategic advantage, because it helps us maintain sovereignty,” says Yerrill.

Canada unlocks $12B in critical mineral deals as minister calls supply chains ‘national security’

‘Huge stamp of approval’

These high-profile deals put Canada’s graphite sector on the map as a legitimate global player, explains Yerrill.

Panasonic Energy is a key battery supplier to major automakers, including Tesla

“When a company like Panasonic is willing to partner with a Canadian company, it’s a huge stamp of approval,” he said, adding that the process for Panasonic to buy graphite can take years.

“It signals to the market that they’ve done their homework. They know what they’re doing.”

Jumbo flakes of graphite from Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Phase 2 Matawinie Project (Credit: Nouveau Monde Graphite)

The Japan-based company, which operates globally, told BNN Bloomberg it is focusing on building a stable and resilient supply chain in North America while also reducing its carbon footprint.

“We have set a medium- to long-term goal of achieving a 50 per cent local procurement rate in North America,” a Panasonic spokesperson said in an email.

Paquet says NMG is already seeing domestic interest and that the Canadian government is providing a framework to secure supplies.

Canada is copying China’s strategy

China’s critical mineral industry has grown massively because it gives huge subsidies to its domestic producers, “which has allowed them to continue to operate at rock-bottom commodity prices,” says Yerrill.

“What we’re seeing is the Canadian government is doing the same thing. We’re providing incentives, financing, price support for our domestic producers in order to avoid the supply chain reliance,” says Yerrill.

NMG is heavily backed by government support as Canada moves to secure critical mineral supplies.

The Matawinie Mine, which is 120 km north of Montréal, Que., was selected as one of the projects by the government’s Major Project Office last year. The office identified the mine as part of Canada’s “strategy to be a powerhouse in the extraction and upgrading of critical minerals.”

Five things to know about Quebec graphite mine added to major projects list

Rendering of Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Phase-2 Matawinie Mine. The project is designed for a 25-year life of mine with a planned production of approximately 106,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of graphite concentrate. (Credit: Nouveau Monde Graphite).

The Canada Growth Fund (CGF) said it invested US$25 million in Nouveau Monde in December 2024 as part of a US$50 million private placement alongside Investissement Québec to support pre-final investment decision spending.

A spokesperson for CGF told BNN Bloomberg that its investment in NMG “is the only one it has made to date in the graphite sector.”

Yerrill says money is always an issue when building a new mining and refining process.

“It’s a huge de-risking event for that company because they know there’s a backer with deep pockets that’s willing to help them get into production,” says Yerrill.

Paquet said Nouveau Monde is aiming to launch construction on the Matawinie mine this spring, with commercial production expected by late 2028. Paquet said the Bécancour battery material plant would follow, with the goal of starting commercial-scale production around early 2029.

Anam Khan

Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca

March 10, 2026

CANADA

Tariff-hit industries struggling as trade war drags into second year

The Canadian Press

Published: March 24, 2026

Algoma Steel Inc., the second largest steel producer in Canada, along the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Thursday, July 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

TORONTO — From rolled steel to kitchen cabinets, Canadian businesses hit by targeted U.S. tariffs are struggling to respond as the trade war drags into its second year.

While most exports continue to flow tariff-free under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, industries like metal production, lumber and automobiles continue to face steep duties more than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump upended the global status quo. Companies have cut staff, pulled back on production and pushed for government action as the heavy duties continue to shake the crucial and long-standing trade relationship with the U.S.

Take Daniel Drapeau, CEO of Quebec-based custom cabinet maker Miralis. His company has invested $43 million since 2022 as it built two plants, with plenty of automation to boost productivity, but like so many others in the industry, it’s now operating well below capacity.

The problem, like with other sectors hit by the Section 232 tariffs, is not only the loss of the U.S. market, but that all the other countries blocked from the world’s largest economy are also looking for buyers, leading many to try and sell more into Canada.

“We were ready to grow after all those crises,” Drapeau said in an interview, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, interest rates and inflation.

“But now we’re being hit by the fact that there is a surge. There is too much product coming from other countries.”

To respond to the twin threats of headwinds in exports and increased imports, cabinet makers in Canada have teamed up with wood flooring and furniture makers to form the Canada Wood Products Alliance. The group is pushing the government to introduce barriers to foreign competitors sending goods into the country.

Drapeau says the action is needed because most of the members of the alliance have had to significantly cut back on operations.

“The manufacturers in Canada are running at maybe 50 per cent of their capacity, which is the strict minimum to stay alive.”

The federal government announced on March 13 that it is reviewing a request from the alliance for safeguard measures. The review comes after the sector was hit by 25 per cent tariffs in October, and was set for a further rise to 50 per cent in January until the Trump administration backed down at the last minute.

Other sectors like steel, which have faced tariffs since March last year, have already seen the government work to crack down on imports, especially those originating in China, in several rounds of increasingly strict limits.

The latest restrictions only went into place on Dec. 26 so it’s still too early to tell how well they’re working, said Catherine Cobden, CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association.

But she said there’s no doubt the help is needed.

“They, frankly, have had a significant impact on the Canadian industry. Thousands of jobs lost, loss of production and a significant drop in our shipments to the United States. A very, very challenging year.”

In December, Canadian steel exports to the U.S. were down 50 per cent from a year earlier, she said.

“Every month we see further drops, and that’s a direct reflection of just the loss of that market access due to the tariffs.”

Some of the effects are being felt this week in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where Algoma Steel Inc. is starting to lay off upwards of 1,000 workers.

The job cuts are part of a long-planned shift to more efficient equipment, but the company accelerated the plan because of tariffs.

Some companies have managed to avoid or reduce layoffs through the use of government initiatives like work-share programs, which allow companies to keep workers on reduced hours and have employment insurance help make up the pay difference.

Drapeau said they’re being widely used in the wood products industries, while Cobden said she thinks the steel sector is the largest user of the program, in part to avoid longer-term effects.

“If we lose our workers, will we ever get them back? And so people are really working hard to try to keep workers in place.”

The work share programs, along with the time it takes to unwind contracts and supply chains, help explain why the effects aren’t even more pronounced on these sectors already, though some cracks are starting to show.

The auto parts sector is one of the hardest hit. Statistics Canada reported there were 64,828 autoworkers employed on the parts side as of December, down 9.5 per cent from a year earlier.

The drop is despite manufacturing employment as a whole growing slightly last year, showing how specific sectors are bearing the brunt, said Claire Fan, senior economist at RBC.

“Because of the way that these tariffs are imposed ... five to six key manufacturing subsectors are really, really hurting versus the rest of the economy.”

And some have been hurting for a while. The softwood lumber industry was hit by harsh duties back in 2017, which Trump has since added to, resulting in production down over 25 per cent since the first round, she noted.

The result is 22 mills closed since 2022 and another 50 with reduced operations, the federal government said as it announced further industry supports last November.

While production and job cuts are some of the most obvious impacts, Fan said that the uncertainty around trade will also mean less investment, and less help for Canada’s wider productivity problems.

“There’s not going to be a huge amount of new investment flowing into these sectors, just because the outlook a decade ahead is perhaps not that optimistic.”

That uncertainty is also leading to fewer orders in the near-term.

While kitchen cabinets didn’t get hit by doubled tariffs, the potential alone creates its own problem.

“We’re still under this threat of adding 50 per cent,” said Drapeau.

“I believe that the Americans are seeing this as a risk, to order from Canada, because of this possible increase.”

He said that while there have already been impacts, worse could be yet to come.

“Hundreds of jobs have been lost, and thousands are in work-share, and there will be more unfortunately in the next months or years if we can’t find solutions.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

Canadian Grocery prices will ‘spike fast’ in a few months if fertilizer costs continue to surge, says expert

ByAnam Khan
BNNBLOOMBERG
Published: March 23, 2026

Unless the conflict in Iran improves, rising fuel and fertilizer costs will trickle down to groceries in just a few months, says a farming expert.

With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, about a third of the world’s fertilizer supply cannot move. As a result, urea and dry nitrogen, which are essential components for growing crops, have jumped by hundreds of dollars per tonne, explains Derryn Shrosbree, a farmer and advocate with 33seven, a Toronto-based advisory firm for farmers.

These price hikes mean it now costs a farmer $40 to $60 more per acre just to plant and maintain their crops, he says.

“That’s obviously impacted the cost of inputs for the farmer, says Shrosbree.”If this continues, yes, we’re going to run into shortages.”

“And that will be a very tricky thing for the consumer, because prices will spike fast.”

He says farmers are seeing a $500 per tonne increase in urea, which is a part of base fertilizer, and also a $250 a tonne increase in dry nitrogen.

Overall, he expects a 10 to 15 per cent increase in base commodity prices, though this will fluctuate significantly depending on the product type.

No supply shortage

The effects of high fuel and fertilizer prices will lag because there is no current supply shortage for farmers, says Shrosbree.

He says Canadian farmers have already stockpiled enough fuel and fertilizer on-site to plant their crops for the upcoming season.

“We will get into the field with no problem with enough nitrogen, urea, sulfur, phosphates, etc,” says Shrosbree.

“So we’re hoping that things calm down a little bit, and by harvest time, which is sort of September time.”

He says if farmers face severe diesel shortages by harvest season, it will affect the crops.

“Combines are very thirsty machines, and go through diesel at a rapid rate. So we definitely want to get this thing done and dusted, so to speak, by hopefully September.”

‘Not all doom and gloom’

He says the current energy market turmoil is similar to the initial shock of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, where oil prices spiked and then stabilized as the global supply adjusted to a new normal.

“So we’re sensing that this will happen again here,” says Shrosbree.

He says that, in the meantime, it is “not all doom and gloom”. With the Bloomberg Commodity Index up six per cent year to date, he is expecting strong exports.

He also says the Canadian canola industry has seen significant relief regarding tariffs on exports to China with Canola seed tariffs down to less than 15 per cent.

“So we’re super optimistic for a great season, and I think that the commodity prices will more than offset the input prices,” says Shrosbree.

“As you know, Canadian farmers are extremely resilient. We’re used to taking hockey pucks to the face constantly. So we will find a way around this, like we do on most of our challenges.”

‘It is very concerning’: Canadian farmers feeling the impact of Middle East conflict

Canadian government has been helpful

A federal assistance program for farmers has been particularly useful, says Shrosbree.

The Farm Credit Canada (FCC) program allows farmers to manage spiking input costs, by allowing them to borrow up to $500,000 through a new credit line.

“That has helped a lot of farmers to be able to sort of buffer the current price increases. So we’re grateful for that,” says Shrosbree.

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