Feedstock
Also called: Raw material feedstock · Topic: Factors of Production, Entrepreneurship and Startups · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Feedstock is the raw material that goes into a processing plant to be turned into a more useful product. It is an intermediate input: something a firm buys and uses up in making its output, unlike machines or buildings, which last a long time. Before a firm builds a refinery or factory, it wants to know that feedstock will keep arriving. If supply is uncertain, the plant may stand idle. That lowers its capacity utilisation, which is the share of a plant's installed capacity that is actually being used.
Example
In November 2026, India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) barred exports of battery waste that contains lithium-ion black mass. Black mass is the powder recovered when old lithium-ion batteries are recycled. It holds lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt and graphite. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the ban would "assure feedstock availability" for Indian refiners, raise their capacity utilisation and attract more investment and jobs.
Don't confuse with
- Finished product: feedstock goes into a process, and the finished product comes out. Black mass is feedstock for a refinery. It is not yet battery-grade lithium or cobalt.
- Capital: capital, such as a refinery's machines, is used again and again over many production cycles. Feedstock is used up in a single cycle.