Future Facing Commodities Forum 2026

Day 1: 21 April 2026, Tuesday
Session 1 - It's Electrifying: New demand for metals

Exploring how the metals and mining industry is navigating an era of unprecedented power demand, decarbonisation, and technology-driven growth.

Our experts will unpack the implications of the surge in electricity needs across major economies and what this means for metals. We'll dive into the demand outlook for copper, aluminium, and other key materials. This covers grid expansion and renewable energy systems to the explosive rise of AI-driven data centres and modern defence requirements. We'll examine the realities of supply constraints, recycling potential, pressure to reform supply chain and regulatory shifts like CBAM. Not to mention the long-term copper supply gap.

Day 2: 22 April 2026, Wednesday
Session 2 - At a crossroads: Navigating the global divide in battery supply chains

We'll begin with taking a health check on the EV sector amid rolling back emission targets. This will be followed by an examination of the emerging Energy Storage Systems (ESS) market by our in-house energy storage team. Our expert panel will then unpack major shifts in battery chemistry and the rise of sodium-ion and solid-state technologies, and what these mean for metals demand. We'll also explore the growing East-West divide in battery manufacturing and supply chain development, and the implications for Western supply chain development amid ongoing oversupply in lithium, nickel and cobalt.


Day 3: 23 April 2026, Thursday
Session 3 - Raw materials: How critical are they?

Examine how dominant is China’s position across many metals - such as rare earths, battery raw material, midstream processing of base metals - has triggered a major strategic response from the West.

We’ll explore why supply chain security has become a central industrial priority, using rare earths as a case study to illustrate the risks of concentrated production. The session then shifts to what it will take to build a resilient ex‑China metals ecosystem, covering new supply opportunities, the role of trade restrictions, investment needs to bring the West up to speed, and the evolving funding models that can nurture these endeavours.