Key facts
- DLA Piper surveyed 550 investors, lenders, developers and producers for the report published on November 11, 2026.
- More than half of respondents called price volatility a major constraint on mining or processing investment.
- Among those respondents, 28% struggled to secure bankable long-term offtake agreements and 27% postponed investment decisions.
- DLA Piper said 37% of surveyed developers and 32% of mining and raw materials producers have adopted vertical integration.
- DLA Piper partner Oliver Wright said capital is more likely to concentrate in regions seen as offering execution credibility and supply-chain proximity.
Price volatility in critical minerals, largely shaped by China's market, is delaying or derailing nearly one in four energy-storage investments worldwide, according to a DLA Piper report published on November 11, 2026.
Some 23% of the 550 investors, lenders, developers and producers surveyed said otherwise viable energy-storage projects had been deferred or scrapped because of unpredictable pricing. Another 12% described price volatility as a dealbreaker for project development, the report said.
More than half of respondents called price volatility a major constraint on mining or processing investment. Among them, 28% struggled to secure bankable long-term offtake agreements, 27% postponed investment decisions and 26% faced a higher cost of capital, according to the report.
The report said projects in the UK and US feel the impact most, with 16% and 18% of participants respectively calling volatility a dealbreaker. German participants were the only national group not to call it a dealbreaker, with 8% considering it a major problem, while Australian participants described volatility as one of many material considerations.
DLA Piper natural resources partner Alex Jones said in the report: "Unpredictable pricing pressures are creating a domino effect across the sector, reducing investor confidence, constraining financing and structuring, and ultimately contributing to project delays, repricing and, in some cases, abandoned projects."
The report found 37% of surveyed developers and 32% of mining and raw materials producers have adopted vertical integration to control more stages of production, from extraction and refining to manufacturing and recycling. Some 37% of participants said component-linked pricing would work better than raw material spot prices, and 48% of mining and raw materials producers favored long-term fixed pricing with periodic resets.
DLA Piper partner Oliver Wright said: "It suggests potential capital is more likely to concentrate in regions perceived to offer execution credibility and proximity to supply chains and demand."