GE Aerospace, Strategic Resources, BASF: Supply Chains Are Becoming a Billion-Dollar Market

GE Aerospace: USD 11.75 Billion for Greater Control

GE Aerospace is digging deep to bring a key part of its supply chain more firmly under its own control. The engine manufacturer is acquiring Consolidated Precision Products (CPP) for USD 11.75 billion from Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners. CPP produces highly complex castings for nearly all major current commercial aircraft programs, as well as for defence and energy applications.

The range of materials is particularly interesting. Among other things, CPP processes titanium, superalloys, and other specialty metals into heavy-duty structural and engine components. GE Aerospace has been working with the company for more than 15 years.

Behind the billion-dollar acquisition lies a growing bottleneck. Demand for commercial aircraft, spare parts, and defence equipment is growing simultaneously. GE CEO Larry Culp therefore explicitly describes additional capacity for mission-critical castings as necessary.

Through the integration, GE Aerospace aims to expand production capacity, increase supply chain efficiency, and accelerate the development of new engine technologies. The transaction is expected to contribute positively to adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow as early as the first year.

The deal highlights just how valuable industrial supply security has become. GE Aerospace is not simply buying a supplier. The company is paying nearly USD 12 billion to secure long-term access to technologies, capacity, and strategically important components.

Strategic Resources: Three Raw Materials in One Project

Strategic Resources is positioned much earlier in the value chain. The wholly-owned BlackRock project in Québec combines vanadium, titanium, and iron - raw materials required for specialty steels, aerospace, defence, energy infrastructure, and numerous industrial applications.

The scale is impressive. For the Southwest deposit alone, the feasibility study indicates 127.8 million metric tonnes of proven and probable reserves containing 0.46% vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅), 40.2% iron (III) oxide (Fe₂O₃), and 7.8% titanium dioxide (TiO₂). The planned mine life is 39 years. The after-tax NPV is CAD 1.93 billion, and the calculated rate of return is 18.2%.

Crucially, however, Strategic Resources does not intend to stop at selling ore. BlackRock is linking the mine and concentrator near Chibougamau with a planned metallurgical plant at the deep-water port of Port Saguenay. The plan calls for an average annual production of approximately 562,000 metric tonnes of high-purity pig iron, 4,400 metric tonnes of ferrovanadium, and 118,000 metric tonnes of titanium slag.

In doing so, the company is targeting several strategic markets at once. Vanadium increases the strength of high-grade steels and can be used in stationary storage systems. Titanium is particularly attractive to the aerospace and industrial sectors due to its combination of low weight, high strength, and corrosion resistance.

The project is capital-intensive, and financing remains the key hurdle. However, if the move toward production succeeds, BlackRock could create the North American raw material and processing capacity that is increasingly in demand amid geopolitical uncertainty in supply chains.

BASF: High-Tech Starts with Materials

BASF demonstrates that the race for industrial value creation does not end with metals. The chemical company is expanding its portfolio with the new low-emission polyurethane catalyst Lupragen BisDMAPU. The product is set to be offered worldwide and will, among other things, enable the production of flexible PU foams with lower VOC emissions.

These speciality chemicals may seem unremarkable, but they are crucial to numerous industrial products. Polyurethanes are found in automobiles, furniture, construction products, and technical applications, among other things. BASF supplies not only the material itself but also chemical components that influence its properties and processing.

At the same time, the company is continuing to advance its high-performance materials. At SIMAC 2026, BASF will present new polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane solutions designed to enable longer product lifecycles and improved recyclability.

This draws an interesting parallel to GE Aerospace and Strategic Resources. Modern industry requires not only sufficient raw materials but also materials with increasingly precise properties. BASF generated approximately EUR 60 billion in revenue in 2025 and has the research and production infrastructure to scale such specialty products globally.

The new catalyst alone will hardly change the Group's overall scale. However, it exemplifies the competition that is often overlooked in the debate over raw materials. Ultimately, what matters is not just who owns the resources, but who can turn them into high-value industrial products.

Supply security is becoming a competitive factor. GE Aerospace is paying USD 11.75 billion to gain greater control over critical manufacturing capacities, while BASF is fighting for industrial value creation with increasingly specialised materials. Strategic Resources is already addressing the very beginning of the supply chain. BlackRock could supply vanadium, titanium, and high-quality iron from a North American source. If financing for this large-scale project is secured, the geopolitical realignment of supply chains could lend the project additional strategic value.