Understanding supply chains, especially where materials or key components are sourced from, has become an increasingly important aspect of competitive analysis and understanding. Vehicle and major tier 1 companies have long wanted to understand their tier and raw materials supply chains but have often found it difficult to collect the relevant information. Mapping supply chains is time-consuming and requires companies to reveal information which they may feel is proprietary and a source of their own competitive advantage.
As the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector has grown, and securing supplies of critical minerals and key components has become increasingly challenging, the need for detailed information and market intelligence has intensified. Now, a regulatory development in Europe will change this significantly; detailed information on the materials used in battery production and their sources will have to be collected, recorded and made publicly available. At the moment rules regarding the public availability of such information does not apply elsewhere in the world, but regulators in the US, China or Japan may well decide the follow their European counterparts.
