Teck Resources, Boliden, Mp Materials favoured for sustainable criteria

The differentiated demand for the different metals exerts different pressures on prices.

As recounted in the article opposite, the imbalance between supply and demand, as well as the energy transition, is key to analysing and forecasting prices. Tarek Issaoui, chief economist at Sycomore A.M. (Generali Investments) identifies the most critical metals, whose price will be affected by economic growth and a demand that will not be fully met by supply, as mining and processing are rigid and capital intensive.

Among the ultra-critical metals exposed to imbalances between supply and demand, Issaoui identifies copper, zinc, tin, but also nickel and two rare earth elements, praseodymium and neodymium. Highly critical, however, are graphite, silicon, lithium, tungsten, and another rare earth, dysprosium. Among the critical, simply, are also listed some precious metals such as platinum, silver and palladium.

It is true that the green wave expected at the beginning of the year has lost its appeal, because both companies and consumers are discouraged by the very high production and sales costs, as well as the problems of disposing of exhausted components (just think of electric vehicle batteries). But the slowdown in energy saving seems to be more of a transitory and contingent issue, also conditioned by the conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, which threaten the transport of oil. According to experts, mining and refining will be crucial to sustain the economy and to enable electrification and digitisation.

"The metals sector," Issaoui explains, "concentrates substantial environmental, social, human rights and governance issues, which have the power to generate significant risks. These factors combined have created a concentration of attractive opportunities for investment selectors in such a risky and volatile environment: in the short term, we can expect confirmation of the high risk/high return'.