“Australia is fundamental to provide the inputs for the supply chain that Japan wants to be a strategic player in batteries,” Australia’s ambassador to Japan, Justin Hayhurst, says. “China dominates processing of key battery components, so if Japan is going to build a more resilient alternative supply chain, Australia is a logical partner.” China’s global tentacles China has more than half of the world’s lithium refining capacity, but relies on imports for about two-thirds of the raw material, according to a recent study by the Institute of Energy Research. Most of this comes from Australia, Africa and South American’s lithium…