SFA remains dedicated to offering expert advice and strategic solutions that support our commitment with policy and commercial leadership, ensuring they are aligned with the challenges of today's rapidly evolving energy landscape. Our long history of consulting at all points along the business cycle, working with investors, start-ups, M&A, JVs, divestment, and policymakers places us at the forefront of supporting global energy transition goals. Our extensive experience in energy markets, initially related to the role of critical metals, now equips us with a balanced perspective on both carbon-intensive and net-zero technologies. Our approach integrates legislative, technological, economic, and commercial considerations into our bespoke analysis.

SFA's analysis recognises the interconnectedness of key elements of the periodic table from occurrences in geological orebodies, through to processing and then in end-uses. Latest technologies for the energy transition will depend on many of these elements. SFA's supply chain analytics can support your decision-making. 

SFA's particular strengths include:

• Our expertise in global emissions legislation is key following the shift from traditional fuels to diverse low-emission technologies. This includes understanding the metals demand stemming from powertrains, including hybrid internal combustion engines, battery electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles, and sustainable aviation fuels, among others.

• Our comprehensive understanding of the roles of critical minerals extends to hydrogen production, renewable energy sources including solar, wind, and geothermal, as well as nuclear energy, power infrastructure, smart grids, and energy storage solutions. We increasingly focus on materials beyond battery metals and PGMs, deploying decades of modelling and forecasting expertise in a growing breadth of minerals, metals and materials.

• In the realm of manufacturing technologies, we analyse end-use technology evolution and material substitution, evaluating the impact on critical minerals demand and critically how this shapes recycling processes and hence, secondary metal supply and circularity credits.

• Our economic and regional assessments delve into renewable energy costs, including solar, wind and others. We evaluate the impact of regional factors on electricity costs, green hydrogen, and the influence of subsidies and incentives on technology adoption.

• Our global mineral supply chain analysis is instrumental in guiding strategic decision-making and ensuring the security and sustainability of critical mineral supplies.

• We excel in short and long-term forecasting, using advanced evaluation and scenario modelling techniques to anticipate shifts in mineral demand, considering broad and nuanced market trends.

• SFA is committed to fostering international collaborations, encouraging innovation, and to sharing knowledge in the critical minerals sector. Our role in supporting policy development leads to creating resilient strategies aligned with sustainable development goals.

• Our risk management strategies adeptly address the complex challenges and geopolitical dynamics in critical mineral markets, ensuring robust and strategic approaches.

• By cultivating strategic global partnerships, we facilitate leadership in the energy transition, championing a sustainable, efficient, and profitable future.

For more information and to schedule a meeting with SFA (Oxford), please contact David Mobbs, Head of Marketing (dmobbs@sfa-oxford.com).

David Mobbs

Head of Marketing

A deep understanding of the impact of technologies on commodities

As part of our long history of PGM research, we have been analysing and following the evolution and impact of emissions legislation and compliance, energy policies and new technologies on key metals, which has enabled us to develop a thorough understanding of emissions-cutting and fuel efficiency technologies. Our research delves deep into the automotive battery and fuel cell technology developments to derive the impact on the platinum group metals and battery raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, and other strategic metals.

SFA’s proven industry experience and cutting-edge analysis with strong links from mine sites to end-users, as well as a unique insight into the complex global commodities marketplace, are what gives us our competitive edge. 

Our extensive knowledge base and diversification are accumulated from constant interaction with end-users, consultancy work, monitoring of new production capacity and closures, technological developments, trade data, macroeconomic drivers and industrial indices. Much of the data associated with end-users is very difficult to obtain and we have succeeded in acquiring this data over a number of years through industry-sponsored research and interaction with stakeholders.

Clients continue to use our expertise and granular analysis on tomorrow’s technologies and their impact on commodities to augment their growing business needs and investment decisions. Our ethics and integrity regarding confidentiality have never been compromised. As has always been the case with SFA – being in the right place, at the right time, working with the right companies and researching the right metals. Consequently, we have built up a large and unique network of loyal, long-standing clients to become renowned and trusted advisors throughout the industry.