Critical Minerals – Thematic Intelligence

Access and explore in-depth trends and insights in our ‘Critical Minerals – Thematic Intelligence’ report: 

• Identify the main trends surrounding critical minerals and the energy transition, split into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.
• Gain a comprehensive industry analysis, including forecasts for mineral production and energy transition growth and analysis of mergers and acquisitions, company filings, and social media trends.
• Get an in-depth analysis of critical mineral strategies of these major regions – China, the US, the EU, South America, and Canada.

How is the ‘Critical Minerals – Thematic Intelligence’ report different from other reports in the market?

• This report provides an overview of the critical minerals theme and identifies key companies, technologies, and manufacturers that are likely to be affected by the theme.
• It looks at demand-side drivers for critical minerals, including mining, electric vehicles, solar energy, wind energy, nuclear power, and hydrogen, and supply-side risks for critical minerals, including mineral depletion, resource monopolization, geopolitics, and water stress.
• It also incorporates analysis of various signals, including mergers and acquisitions, social media posts, and company filings, and profiles of mining companies producing critical minerals.

We recommend this valuable source of information to anyone involved in:

• Technology Leaders and Start-ups
• Mining/Renewables/Power Generation Companies
• Primes/OEMs/Clean Energy Technology Enterprises
• Business Development and Market Intelligence
• Investment Analysts and Portfolio Managers
• Professional Services – Investment Banks, PE/VC firms
• M&A/Investment, Management Consultants, and Consulting Firms

Over 70 countries have set net-zero targets, and even more have pledged to lower their emissions. However, these widespread objectives for a greener future are straining supplies of natural resources, especially the minerals required to produce energy transition technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels.

Many of these minerals are considered critical because resources are either in short supply, monopolized by individual regions, or at risk of significant supply chain disruption. Energy transition objectives will be delayed if critical mineral supply cannot meet demand.

Critical Minerals Thematic Intelligence Report Overview

Critical minerals are key to transitioning to a low-carbon world. There are over 70 countries globally, that have set net-zero targets, and have pledged to lower their emissions. However, these widespread measures for a greener future are straining supplies of natural resources, especially the minerals required to produce energy transition technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels. Many of these minerals are considered critical because resources are either in short supply, monopolized by individual regions, or at risk of significant supply chain disruption. Consequently, energy transition objectives will be delayed if critical mineral supply cannot meet demand.

The critical minerals thematic intelligence report provides the key trends impacting the growth of the critical minerals theme over the next 12 to 24 months. It also offers an analysis of M&A, company filing, and social media trends.

Critical Minerals - Key Trends

The main trends shaping the critical minerals industry are classified into three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.

• Technology trends: The rising use of lithium and sodium-ion batteries, gradual switch to hydrogen fuel cells, the transition in battery materials, and the solar industry are some of the technology trends impacting the critical minerals and the energy transition.
• Macroeconomic trends: The key macroeconomic trends explained in the report are China’s monopoly over the supply of several critical minerals, including lithium, graphite, REEs, and cobalt, growing demand for electric vehicles, and the resultant price volatility for lithium and other battery metals among others.
• Regulatory trends: The US Inflation Reduction Act, Europe’s policy accelerating hydrogen power deployment and China’s potential ban on exports of rare earth elements (REEs) are part of the regulatory trends impacting the critical minerals and the energy transition

Critical Minerals - Demand-Side Drivers

Global decarbonization strategies have led to substantial investments in electric vehicles and renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, nuclear, and hydrogen. In 2022, there were approximately eight million electric vehicles produced. The production is expected to rise in the coming years which will propel the demand for critical minerals.

Electric Vehicles: The electrification of the transport sector is accelerating the demand for batteries. As the technology has matured, the adoption of EVs has been rapid, with annual sales more than quadrupling between 2018 and 2022. Across the world, governments are incentivizing the transition away from combustion vehicles towards electric. For instance, the EU intends to prohibit the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2035. The state of California has also imposed a ban on combustion cars by 2035, with other states possibly following suit. Therefore, to keep pace with the required production of electric vehicles, the provision of key minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite will need to expand.

Critical Minerals - Signals

In this section, we use the millions of signals generated by our thematic engine to predict how the question of critical mineral supply will develop and who the likely leaders are. These signals are a useful source of competitor intelligence in the critical minerals sphere. M&A deal is one of the signals in critical minerals theme.

M&A trends: Except for lithium, the total annual M&A deal value related to each critical mineral has been rising since 2020. There have been several notable acquisitions, for example, the purchase of OZ Minerals by BHP Lonsdale, announced in December 2022. Another deal whose outcome remains open at the time of writing is Glencore’s potential acquisition of Teck Resources.

The critical minerals signals analysis also covers the following signals:

• Social media trends
• Company filing trends

Cobalt Mining M&A Deal Activity, 2019-2023

For more insights into the critical minerals related deals, download a free report sample

Critical Minerals – Public Companies

The publicly listed mining companies are the key players in the critical minerals mining and have positioned themselves strategically to meet rising demand.

• Albemarle
• Anglo American
• BHP
• Freeport McMoRan
• Glencore

Critical Minerals –Private Companies

Some interesting private companies associated with this theme are:

• Nornickel
• Sociedad Química y Minera

For more insights on the players in the critical minerals theme, download a free report sample

Key Highlights

• Demand for clean energy technologies has grown as their capabilities and performance have improved. The imperative to mitigate climate change has further accelerated demand, with consumers putting pressure on corporations and governments to act.
• Adoption has also been aided by significant reductions in cost over recent years, with solar power, as the fastest-growing energy source, surpassing 1 terawatt (TW) globally in 2022.
• In the transport sector, electric vehicles will account for 50% of light vehicle production by 2035. However, there are concerns that the affordability of clean energy technologies will be affected by impending shortages as mineral production struggles to keep pace with demand.
• Deposits of critical minerals are typically found in specific regions of the world. For example, much of the world’s lithium reserves are concentrated in South America and Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provides much of the world’s cobalt, and Indonesia dominates nickel production.
• The race to control these mineral assets has led to intense rivalries between China, the US, and the EU, with China currently dominating the mineral supply chain and the development of energy transition technologies. The escalating rivalries have resulted in the imposition of trading sanctions by the West to level the playing field, which has disrupted global supply chains leading to market volatility.

Reasons to Buy

• Energy transition objectives are key for curbing the harmful effects of fossil fuels on climate change. However, the rapid scale-up of clean energy technologies required to reduce carbon emissions depends upon the intensive mining of several minerals.
• Due to the projected increase in demand for these minerals, they are classified as critical for achieving energy transition goals. This report provides a clear and concise introduction to the key issues surrounding critical minerals, with a specific focus on their role in the energy transition.