The market equates batteries with lithium, nickel and cobalt, but the real winner of the past few years is LFP chemistry (lithium iron phosphate). LFP has taken over stationary energy storage and is gaining share in cheaper electric cars, and its key, underappreciated input is phosphorus. LFP cathodes require battery-grade purified phosphoric acid, the same element that has fed global agriculture for decades. Phosphates have just become a battery raw material, and that puts two markets on a collision course: energy and food.
Two forces are squeezing global phosphate supply at the same time. First, battery demand is growing fast: LFP dominates energy storage and is moving into autos, creating an entirely new and growing stream of demand for purified phosphoric acid. Second, China, the largest producer and exporter of phosphates, has been restricting DAP and MAP exports since 2021 to protect domestic fertilizer supply and to give priority to its own battery chain. Net effect: less and less phosphate available for the rest of the world.