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Resources & industrial strategy

Metals

Connect the metal
to its market.

Portfolio, investment and operating strategy across beneficiation, smelting, refining and downstream metals businesses. We connect feedstock choices and production economics with product positioning, value-in-use pricing and customer origination.

Explore our capabilities Discuss your priorities
Processing equipment and walkways at a mineral processing plantKhatera Metals advisory
The whole industrial equation

From feedstock decisions to customer economics.

A metals business sits between the variability of supply and the requirements of its customers. Its strategic choices must account for feedstock, energy, processing capacity, product mix and market access together. We help owners and leadership teams evaluate individual operations and multinational portfolios, with a clear view of where value is created, where capital is tied up and which capabilities the next stage of growth requires.

  • Review industrial assets in the context of their supply positions, processing routes and end markets.
  • Compare growth, integration, acquisition and restructuring choices on a consistent economic basis.
  • Connect portfolio strategy to operating priorities and a commercially credible product offering.
How we help

Decisions that shape
the business.

Explore the scope of each capability and the practical outputs an engagement can deliver.

01

Strategic reviews & market positioning

Define where the business should compete across commodities, processing stages, product categories and customer markets.
  • Test the current business model against feedstock, energy and demand scenarios.
  • Compare integrated ownership, specialist processing, tolling and downstream expansion options.
  • Translate strategic choices into investment criteria and a focused management agenda.
What you take forward

A clear positioning thesis and a prioritised set of strategic moves.

02

Corporate development & M&A

Use acquisitions, partnerships and divestments to address specific gaps in the industrial and commercial portfolio.
  • Screen targets for feedstock fit, process compatibility, market access and ownership rationale.
  • Coordinate commercial and operating diligence with financial, technical and legal specialists.
  • Assess integration requirements, standalone costs, customer exposure and synergy assumptions.
What you take forward

A transaction thesis with a valuation logic, diligence agenda and ownership priorities.

03

Plant, asset & company reviews

Understand the economics and strategic options of a processing plant, downstream operation or entire metals company.
  • Review margin formation across feedstock, recovery, energy, conversion costs and product realisation.
  • Assess capacity constraints, sustaining investment and dependencies on key suppliers or customers.
  • Compare continued operation, repositioning, expansion, partnership and exit scenarios.
What you take forward

An evidence-based asset view with sensitivities and explicit strategic choices.

04

Processing developments & expansion

Evaluate new capacity and brownfield investments in the context of the supply and demand they are intended to serve.
  • Compare processing configurations, locations and phased development options with specialist teams.
  • Challenge feedstock availability, energy assumptions, capital requirements and ramp-up plans.
  • Align investment gates with product qualification, customer development and infrastructure readiness.
What you take forward

A development case connecting plant investment to a credible commercial pathway.

05

Feedstock & supply chain strategy

Examine how procurement, blending, inventory and logistics decisions influence plant performance and commercial flexibility.
  • Map supply options, quality variability, contractual exposure and supplier concentration.
  • Compare blending, sourcing and transport choices on delivered economic contribution.
  • Identify inventory, scheduling and information gaps between procurement, operations and sales.
What you take forward

A sourcing and supply chain agenda aligned with processing and market needs.

06

Operating performance & turnaround

Identify the operating and strategic causes of weak returns and turn them into a focused recovery programme.
  • Trace losses through throughput, recovery, energy use, maintenance and product mix.
  • Separate operational actions from structural choices about capacity and market positioning.
  • Assign initiative owners, investment requirements, performance measures and escalation routines.
What you take forward

An actionable recovery plan tied to plant economics and management accountability.

07

Downstream strategy & customer origination

Choose the products, applications and customer relationships that justify a metals business's next stage of development.
  • Prioritise end uses by product fit, qualification requirements and commercial attractiveness.
  • Develop value-in-use arguments linking specifications to the customer's operating economics.
  • Build target account pipelines and structured routes into technical and commercial discussions.
What you take forward

A downstream growth plan with product priorities and a customer engagement pathway.

08

Operating models & industrial innovation

Organise decisions and improvement investments around the economics of an interconnected industrial business.
  • Clarify decision rights across procurement, plants, commercial teams and group functions.
  • Evaluate process and digital initiatives against defined operating problems and investment hurdles.
  • Create review routines that connect asset performance with group capital allocation.
What you take forward

An operating model and improvement agenda with clear decision ownership.

Across plants, countries & commodities

Build a portfolio that works as an industrial system.

A multinational metals portfolio needs more than separate plant business plans. We examine how assets complement one another, where exposures accumulate and which investments improve the position of the whole group.

01

Asset role & integration

Define each site's purpose, its links to upstream and downstream operations, and the rationale for ownership or partnership.

02

Jurisdictions & infrastructure

Compare energy, logistics, market access and jurisdiction assumptions alongside concentration and infrastructure dependencies.

03

Commodities & product mix

Evaluate the balance between metals, grades, intermediates and finished products under alternative margin and demand scenarios.

04

Stages & investment needs

Consider development projects, operating plants, modernisation and end-of-life choices together with their competing capital requirements.

05

Customers & supply exposure

Map key supplier and customer dependencies, qualification barriers, contracted positions and opportunities to broaden market access.

The portfolio decision

The output: an integrated portfolio view, plant-level strategic roles, capital priorities and explicit recommendations to invest, reposition, partner, consolidate or exit.

Across the value chain

Connect processing choices across the value chain.

Our metals work examines the chain from sourced material to customer application. The appropriate route depends on the commodity, feedstock and product; individual businesses may cover only part of this chain.

  1. 01

    Feedstock & origination

    Supply portfolio, upstream partnerships, sourcing economics and quality requirements.

  2. 02

    Beneficiation & preparation

    Preparation routes, blending choices, product consistency and interfaces with processing assets.

  3. 03

    Smelting & conversion

    Capacity strategy, operating economics, energy exposure and investment alternatives.

  4. 04

    Refining & purification

    Product specifications, recovery assumptions, process constraints and commercial positioning.

  5. 05

    Downstream production

    Product forms, application priorities, make-or-partner choices and customer qualification.

  6. 06

    Markets & customer value

    Value-in-use pricing, account origination, market access and commercial execution.

Commercial strategy

Make the customer's economics part of your strategy.

Commercial development starts with a clear answer to why a customer should choose a particular product, supplier and delivery model.

Value-in-use & pricing

Evaluate how purity, composition, consistency, yield and processing requirements affect customer value. Translate the evidence into product differentiation, pricing logic and negotiation priorities without assuming a premium will materialise.

Customer origination & qualification

Identify target applications and accounts, map buying and technical stakeholders, and define the samples, trials, qualification steps and commercial discussions needed to advance opportunities.

Routes to market & account economics

Compare direct sales, distributors, traders and industrial partnerships. Assess freight, service requirements, working capital and account contribution to shape a practical commercial model.

Commodity perspective

Different metals. Different strategic questions.

We tailor the review to the processing economics, product requirements and commercial structure of the relevant commodity chain.

Base metals

Copper, nickel, zinc, lead and aluminium

Examine feedstock and intermediate positions, processing portfolios, metal quality and opportunities in downstream industrial applications.

Bulk & ferrous value chains

Iron ore, iron, steel and ferroalloys

Connect raw material quality, preparation and conversion options with product mix, energy exposure and delivered customer economics.

Precious metals

Gold, silver and platinum group metals

Review refining and processing positions, sourcing relationships, product routes and the commercial role of each operation.

Putting the scope to work

Start with the decision
in front of you.

Illustrative engagement scopes, shaped around your assets, priorities and available evidence.

Let’s talk metals

Where should your metals business create its next value?

Bring us a processing investment, a portfolio choice or a downstream growth ambition. We can help connect the industrial case with the markets and customers it needs to serve.

Discuss your priorities