Critical MatRisk® is a net-zero focused, critical materials foresight service, supporting client planning and operational monitoring of the demand and sustainable supply of critical materials.

The critical materials supply & demand challenge.

The rising global demand for advanced technologies across sectors - including energy, defence, transport, healthcare and telecoms - is driving a surge in the need for critical minerals and materials. From powering electric vehicles, to enabling digital infrastructure, these materials are vital for growth and innovation.

However, industries worldwide are facing increasing challenges in securing sustainable, consistent supply against several highly variable and unstable factors. These factors include continuity of supply and pricing, but also political and ethical considerations, ESG standards, and the potential for alternative materials to emerge due to rapidly evolving technology.

Understanding material availability and supply chain resilience is essential to achieving long term success.

Critical MatRisk®

At DAS, we have combined our expertise in risk management, future trends, supply and demand modelling, technology foresight, and critical materials to create Critical MatRisk®. Our service provides vital support to organisations, helping them to understand and manage critical material challenges.

Critical MatRisk® is a bespoke service that delivers extensive capabilities to describe the past, present and future supply and demand of critical materials in a range of scenarios. This includes global and regional analysis, near-term supply risk foresight, supply chain projections and a variety of critical materials information.

Our service provides users with the ability to rapidly test critical material supply chain risks and resilience, as well as emerging threats and shocks.

Critical MatRisk® provides reliable, validated information for a range of operational, industrial, academic and government needs.

Our mission for critical materials.

Critical materials are essential to modern life, enabling the development of advanced technologies and infrastructure, from electric vehicle batteries to medical devices, renewable energy sources and electronics.

Our mission is to reduce the risk associated with critical materials supply by delivering an easy-to-use service, focused on meeting the requirements of sector specific needs for critical materials insight and foresight, both within the UK and globally.

Critical MatRisk®is a vital decision support and risk foresight service. It provides users with a clear understanding of the supply and demand of critical materials, focussing on risks and opportunities and enabling insight and foresight to be integrated into planning and decision-making processes.

Our Value.

Analysis of the supply and demand of critical materials for Great Britain’s national grid infrastructure.

DAS delivered an innovative research study for the UK Government Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the UK’s Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) on the demand and security of the supply of aluminium and copper, which are essential for upgrading the electricity grid in Great Britain. We considered the aluminium and copper requirements for upgrading the grid based on national forecasts of infrastructure projects.

A top-down Bill of Materials (BoM) approach was used to generate value chain maps of the supply chain, including the mining, refining and component stages. We identified the bottlenecks along the value chain, including capacity assessments, production concentration risks, comparison with future demand and geopolitical risks. We also explored the opportunities associated with the circular economy and material substitution. Our research was delivered at pace and involved the formation of a broad stakeholder group across government, industry, and academia to validate our assumptions and findings through interviews and workshops.

The report and recommendations are currently being used to inform central government and industry of the supply risks and mitigation strategies associated with the UK’s aluminium and copper requirements for upgrading the electricity grid.

National Grid foresight study: https://ukcmic.org/downloads/reports/demand-foresight-studies/ukcmic-foresight-report-national-grid.pdf

Analysis of the supply and demand of critical materials for the UK nuclear industry.

Decision Analysis Services Ltd (DAS) delivered an innovative foresight study on the critical materials demand and supply dependencies for the UK nuclear sector through to 2050. The study was commissioned by the UK Government Department of Business and Trade (DBT) though the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) and focused on the key UK’s nuclear sub-technologies for energy transition.

 The analysis DAS completed provides a unique assessment of projected demand for critical materials in the UK nuclear sector, and insight to support anticipatory long-term investment in the critical materials supply chain. DAS developed and refined the demand models internally, using the anticipated installation and retirement rates of nuclear reactors.

Our study compares projected demand models against a supply chain analysis.  We applied a top-down Bill of Materials (BoM) approach, generating a value chain map of the nuclear component supply chain. We identified bottlenecks in the value chain, including capacity assessments at each stage of the supply chain, production concentration risks, comparison with future demand and geopolitical risks. The outputs of the study include a discussion on the supply issues, risks and potential mitigation strategies.

The report and its recommendations are being used to inform the UK government and UK nuclear industry of the supply risks and mitigation strategies associated with the UK’s critical material requirements for nuclear deployment and operation.

Nuclear foresight study: https://ukcmic.org/downloads/reports/demand-foresight-studies/ukcmic-foresight-report-nuclear.pdf