General Motors Co. agreed to buy nickel supplies from Vale SA as a surge in demand for electric vehicles spurs automakers to secure access to battery metals.

GM committed to buy battery-grade nickel sulfate equal to 25,000 metric tons of contained nickel per year from Vale Canada’s proposed plant east of Montreal, the Brazilian mining company said Thursday in a statement. The supply would be enough to help build approximately 350,000 EVs a year. Vale says it will begin deliveries to GM in the second half of 2026.

Nickel sulphate is a key ingredient for making lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs. Automakers have been forging direct deals with mining companies to secure access to battery metals like nickel, lithium, copper and graphite as U.S. and Canadian policymakers move to spur investment in domestically sourced materials.

Vale is already a direct supplier of nickel for Tesla batteries, and has automaker Ford Motor Co. as one of its partners to jointly develop nickel resources in Indonesia.