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Raw Material Criticality Assessment

Companies that rely on the supply of mineral resources and metals for the provision of their products and services could be subject to various value-chain risks. Geological, geopolitical, economic, technical, social, or environmental factors could affect the extraction, refining, or processing of raw materials, and the deployment of the technologies in which these materials are used.

A Raw Material Criticality Assessment is a study that allows to identify Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) and supply risk hotspots in the value chain of a company, a product, or even a regional or national economy.

Companies, policymakers, and researchers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of monitoring Critical Raw Materials. Since 2010, the European Commission regularly publishes an updated list of materials that are evaluated as critical for the European economy. Materials are critical when they have a high risk of a supply disruption, and high importance for the economy, because they are used in sectors with a high contribution to economic growth. Critical materials include light and heavy rare earth elements (LREEs and HREEs), tungsten, niobium, magnesium, etc. CRMs have been the focus of many governmental and industrial R&D projects that aim to secure the access to these materials.

What does this mean for your company?

It is possible that a material that is not critical for the overall European economy be of high criticality for your company, for example, if your company operates in a niche sector. Vice versa, raw materials that are critical for the European economy are not necessarily critical for your company. A tailored, company-focused raw material criticality study is needed to have an accurate vision of the specific value-chain risks that are relevant for your company.

Via a raw material criticality assessment, hotspots in your company’s value chain will be identified that might result in supply disruptions, strong price fluctuations, exposure to environmental and social regulations, or potential reputational risks. WeLOOP will furthermore accompany your company in the formulation of concrete strategies to mitigate these risks.

Critical Raw Materials list of the European Commission (2023)

The International Round Table on Materials Criticality (IRTC)

WeLOOP is a project partner of IRTC, a project established in 2018 and funded by EIT RawMaterials. IRTC consists of leading international experts in material criticality discussing different perspectives and requirements of criticality assessments, impacts of criticality, and ways to mitigate it. The project bridges academic expertise, industry practice, and policy-making, and engages with stakeholders around the world.

The project bridges academic expertise, industry practice, and policy-making, and engages with stakeholders around the world.

IRTC training

IRTC establishes courses that train industry professionals making them "material risk managers " capable to identify and take action to mitigate their specific company supply risks. These courses will be standardized and ISO-certified and are guided by a dedicated expert group.

After taking a basic IRTC course, participants shall be able to:

  • define risks associated to criticality
  • apply risk concepts to raw material security of supply
  • distinguish different levels of analyis
  • know common risk types for specific stakeholder groups
  • know the common criticality assessment methodologies
  • know criticality indicators and their data bases

IRTC Decision Tool

Dans le cadre du projet IRTC, WeLOOP a développé un outil de décision permettant aux entreprises de mieux comprendre et d’atténuer la criticité des matières premières. Cet outil a pour but d’aider les entreprises à évaluer les risques liés aux matières premières et de leur offrir des possibilités d’atténuer ces risques.

L’outil est basé sur un modèle de cause à effet qui relie l’exposition potentielle d’une entreprise à la criticité des matières premières à des indicateurs bien connus qui servent de signaux d’alerte précoce. Le modèle est le résultat de plusieurs cycles de tables rondes et de recherches menées par le consortium du projet.


Des suggestions pour atténuer les risques sont liées au modèle en fonction de la capacité des mesures à réduire les causes des risques, l’exposition d’une entreprise aux risques ou les dommages potentiels pour une entreprise. Cet outil sensibilise les entreprises aux risques liés à l’approvisionnement en matières premières et les aide à prendre des décisions pour mieux gérer les matières premières essentielles. Vous pouvez consulter l’outil gratuitement.

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