Johnson Matthey’s 2025 SAF Pivot: De-Risking Growth Through Alliances & Technology Licensing

Industry Adoption: Johnson Matthey’s Shift from Technology Validation to Alliance-Driven Commercial Scale-Up

Between 2021 and 2024, Johnson Matthey (JM) methodically positioned itself as a pivotal technology licensor in the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) market, focusing on validating its core intellectual property. The strategy was to prove the commercial viability of its technologies, most notably the FT CANS™ process co-developed with bp. The inflection point of this era was the April 2024 selection of this technology for DG Fuels’ proposed $4 billion facility in Louisiana, slated to be the world’s largest Fischer-Tropsch SAF plant at 600,000 metric tons per year. This win, alongside selections by EDL in Germany and preliminary engineering work with HIF Global, served as crucial third-party validation, moving JM’s technology from the blueprint to the bankable project pipeline. The company also diversified its technical offerings, proving its BioForming® S2A technology with Virent in the first 100% SAF transatlantic flight in 2023, showcasing a solution for “drop-in” fuels.

The year 2025 marked a fundamental strategic pivot from validation to a de-risked, scalable execution model. This change was catalyzed by the landmark decision in May 2025 to divest its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell for £1.8 billion. Rather than an exit, this was a calculated repositioning. JM immediately leveraged the deal to form the SAF Technology Alliance with industry heavyweights Honeywell, GIDARA Energy, and SAMSUNG E&A. This move effectively outsources capital intensity and project execution risk while embedding JM’s core FT and syngas technologies into an integrated, end-to-end solution for customers. This new framework immediately bore fruit with commercial wins like USA BioEnergy’s 65-million-gallon-per-year plant in Texas and Willis Sustainable Fuels’ Teesside project. The pattern shifted from securing individual, pioneering technology selections to driving adoption through a standardized, lower-capex, multi-party offering, signaling a new phase of industrialized deployment.

Table: Johnson Matthey Strategic Investments & Financial Posture (2022-2025)

Table: Johnson Matthey’s Evolving SAF Partnership Ecosystem (2023-2025)

Geography: Johnson Matthey’s Deepening Focus in North America and Europe

Between 2021 and 2024, Johnson Matthey’s SAF activities were concentrated in establishing strategic beachheads in regions with strong policy support and feedstock potential. The United States and Europe emerged as the clear leaders. In the U.S., the selection of JM’s technology for the landmark DG Fuels plant in Louisiana and engineering work with HIF Global in Texas underscored a focus on the Gulf Coast’s industrial and logistical advantages. In Europe, the selection for EDL’s HyKero project in Germany and a methanol project in Sweden demonstrated traction within the EU’s ambitious regulatory framework. These were targeted entries into the world’s most promising SAF markets.

From 2025 onwards, the geographic strategy has shifted from entry to deeper penetration within these same core regions. The new project announcements—USA BioEnergy in Texas and Willis Sustainable Fuels in Teesside, UK—reinforce that North America and the UK are JM’s primary theaters of operation for commercial deployment. This focus suggests these markets have crossed a threshold of bankability for JM’s technology partners. The formation of the SAF Technology Alliance, which includes South Korea-based SAMSUNG E&A, does not signal an immediate geographic shift but rather creates a globally capable framework. It equips JM and its partners to deploy their integrated solution wherever the next wave of supportive policy and economic opportunity emerges, while currently capitalizing on the established momentum in the U.S. and Europe.

Technology Maturity: Johnson Matthey’s Journey from Validation to Scalable Deployment

In the 2021-2024 period, Johnson Matthey’s focus was on moving its SAF technology suite from a developed state to commercial validation. The key technologies—FT CANS™ and HyCOgen™—were launched and marketed as licensable products. The critical validation point was the selection of FT CANS™ for the DG Fuels and EDL projects. These were not pilot programs but commitments for first-of-a-kind, industrial-scale facilities, representing a major leap from demonstration to commercial adoption. Similarly, the BioForming® S2A technology with Virent went beyond the lab to power a historic transatlantic flight, proving its real-world application as a 100% drop-in solution. This period was defined by securing high-stakes, flagship projects that proved the technology was ready for the market.

The period from 2025 to today represents a shift from validation to scalable deployment. The core technologies are now considered commercially proven. The strategic emphasis is no longer on proving they work, but on making them easier, cheaper, and faster to build. The formation of the SAF Technology Alliance is the primary evidence of this shift. It offers an integrated package promising a 10% capex reduction, directly addressing the primary barrier to mass adoption: cost. Project wins in 2025, such as USA BioEnergy and Willis Sustainable Fuels, are no longer pioneering “firsts” but rather the initial wave of commercial replications under this new, streamlined model. The technology has matured from being a standalone, licensable component to the core IP within a standardized, turnkey plant solution, indicating it has reached a new level of market readiness.

Table: Johnson Matthey’s SAF Strategy SWOT Analysis (2021-2025)

Forward-Looking Insights: Alliance Execution is the New Barometer for Success

Johnson Matthey’s recent strategic maneuvers signal a clear path for the year ahead: the focus is now squarely on execution through partnership. The company has successfully transformed its business model from a capital-intensive technology developer to a nimble, IP-focused enabler. The most critical signal to watch is the performance of the newly formed SAF Technology Alliance. The first joint project secured under this integrated framework will be a major milestone, validating the market’s appetite for this “one-stop-shop” approach.

Market actors should pay close attention to progress on the Willis Sustainable Fuels and USA BioEnergy projects. Reaching Final Investment Decision (FID) on these plants will be the ultimate proof that the alliance’s promise of a more bankable, lower-capex solution is resonating with developers and financiers. Furthermore, tracking JM’s progress toward its stated goal of securing 20 sustainable technology project wins by the end of its 2025/26 fiscal year will serve as a key performance indicator of its new strategy’s commercial traction. The narrative is no longer just about technological potential; it’s about the velocity and volume of commercial deployment. For executives and investors, monitoring these execution-based signals is essential to understanding the true pace of SAF industrialization and JM’s enduring role within it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Johnson Matthey sell its Catalyst Technologies business? Does this mean they are exiting the SAF market?
No, Johnson Matthey is not exiting the SAF market. The sale of its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell for £1.8 billion was a strategic pivot, not an exit. This move allowed JM to shift from a capital-intensive model to a ‘capital-light, IP-focused’ strategy. The company immediately reinvested its position by forming the SAF Technology Alliance, where it now acts as a core technology licensor, embedding its intellectual property (like FT CANS™) into integrated solutions without bearing the direct capital and project execution risks.

What is the SAF Technology Alliance and what is JM’s role within it?
The SAF Technology Alliance is a partnership formed in June 2025 between Johnson Matthey, Honeywell, GIDARA Energy, and SAMSUNG E&A. Its goal is to provide an integrated, end-to-end solution for waste-to-SAF production, aiming to make projects more bankable by reducing capital expenditure (capex) by about 10%. Johnson Matthey’s role is to provide the core process technology and catalyst expertise, specifically its proven FT CANS™ and syngas technologies, cementing its position as a key intellectual property provider within a scalable, de-risked framework.

What was the main difference in Johnson Matthey’s strategy before and after 2025?
Before 2025, JM’s strategy focused on technology validation. The primary goal was to secure landmark, first-of-a-kind project wins (like the DG Fuels plant) to prove its technologies were commercially viable at an industrial scale. After 2025, the strategy pivoted to scalable, de-risked deployment. With its technology proven, the focus shifted from validation to driving mass adoption through a standardized, lower-cost, alliance-based offering that makes it easier, faster, and cheaper for customers to build SAF plants.

What are the main SAF technologies that Johnson Matthey offers?
Johnson Matthey’s portfolio includes several key SAF technologies. The most prominent is the FT CANS™ process, co-developed with bp, which uses the Fischer-Tropsch method to convert syngas into synthetic crude for SAF production. The company also offers its BioForming® S2A technology (with Virent) for creating ‘drop-in’ fuels from biomass, and provides methanol synthesis technology, which is crucial for the methanol-to-jet and e-SAF pathways.

How will we know if Johnson Matthey’s new SAF strategy is successful?
The success of JM’s new strategy will be measured by the execution and commercial traction of its SAF Technology Alliance. Key indicators to watch include the alliance securing its first joint project wins and, most importantly, projects like USA BioEnergy and Willis Sustainable Fuels reaching Final Investment Decision (FID). This would validate the alliance’s promise of a more bankable, lower-capex solution. Additionally, tracking JM’s progress toward its goal of 20 sustainable technology wins by its 2025/26 fiscal year will be a direct measure of the strategy’s commercial success.