Our Current Critical Material Areas of Interest

Stormcrow has researched and built supply, demand and pricing models for a variety of critical materials sectors, as our clients have requested them.

Tin
Tin
Humans have been very good at mining tin for a very long time. This has resulted in a significant depletion problem, and declining grades at some of the worlds largest producing mines. We continue to need tin to manufacture electronics, so cheap tin supplies are a global concern.
 
Fluorspar
Fluorspar
A rarely-mentioned commodity that plays a critical role in countless industrial applications, including modern lithium batteries. New supplies of fluorspar tend to be harder and more expensive to use.
 
Graphite & Graphene
Graphite & Graphene
Because of use in batteries and other technologies, graphite and graphene are all the rage. We can show you what to really look for.
Lithium
Lithium
Stormcrow's Dr. Hykawy was one of the first to publish capital markets research on lithium in 2009. Demand has grown dramatically but, as we have predicted, so has supply. The changing specification for products and new developments in battery technology are dramatically affecting this market.
 
Borates
Borates
An uncommon but essential commodity used in the production of borosilicate glasses, fiberglass mats and chemicals. Certain boron-bearing minerals are becoming more important than others.
 
Rare Earths
Rare Earths
Sixteen naturally-occurring elements that are difficult and expensive to separate from one another. Hundreds of industrial uses and markets. Opaque pricing. One dominant but unpredictable supplying nation. Fun, right?!?
PGM
PGM
Among numerous other industrial uses, PGMs are vital for emissions control in every car produced that uses internal combustion today. Many of the key supplying nations for these critical and expensive metals are volatile on the best of days.
 
Technological Innovation
Technological Innovation
We are constantly on the lookout for technology that can flip a mature commodity market on its head. The change in demand can be positive or negative, while the product specifications from the deployment of new processing technology can be dramatically different.
 
Niobium  & Vanadium
Niobium & Vanadium
Both are significant industrial commodities that give the world stronger, lighter steels. But with such specialty steel demand rising, supply and demand moving out of balance can cause prices to fluctuate wildly. Add in new sources of demand from new technological applications, and these markets become perilous.