In this episode of 5 for Five, Tim Ridderbos interviews  Atilla W. co-founder of Navigate Commodities , for five rapid-fire questions that unpack how satellite imaging and data modeling are transforming the way recycled ferrous metals are monitored around the world.

Who is Atilla Widnell?

Atilla describes himself as an “Anglo-Turk,” born and bred in London with Turkish ancestry. He’s lived in Singapore for the last 10 years with his Singaporean wife and two children. His background includes working for firms like CRU, Metal Bulletin (now Fast Markets), and a large Chinese organization focusing on high-frequency, alternative data in the iron ore and steel markets.

Eventually, Atilla and his team took some of those ideas and started Navigate Commodities, building tools that track physical commodity supply and demand in real time.

What does Navigate Commodities do?

“At the base of it,” Atilla explains, “we use satellite technology that’s out there to provide real-time visibility of supply and demand of certain dry bulk commodity markets.”

That includes:

• Tracking vessels with specific cargoes
• Thermal satellite imagery to measure heat from electric arc and blast furnaces
• Optical satellite imagery to monitor stockpile sizes of iron and recycled ferrous metals

The data is packaged into a platform and sold to industries, investment banks, and anyone trading futures derivatives based on physical underlying assets.

Monitoring Piles from Space

One standout innovation is Navigate’s scrap pile detection tool, which uses satellite imagery to estimate the size of piles of materials like HMS, PNS, shreds, and bales.

Still in beta, the model currently predicts pile sizes with 87–96% accuracy. Atilla explains: “You look at the density, the size of the piles—the length, the width, the height. The height is trickier because you have to use the shadow.” Once trained, the model can analyze stockpiles across regions to help identify whether a country like the U.S. is “overstocked or understocked on recycled ferrous metals.”

What’s Next?

“The sky’s the limit—or space is the limit,” says Atilla.

Navigate Commodities is expanding its platform to include:

• Thermal monitoring of steel mills and copper smelters
• Shortwave infrared monitoring rebuilt in-house
• High-frequency imagery of car manufacturer parking lots
• Mine activity monitoring for lithium, iron ore, and more

“There’s so much low-hanging fruit we could cover,” he notes. “It hasn’t really existed in metals and mining before.”

Final Thoughts

Navigate Commodities is bringing oil-and-gas-style intelligence to the world of metals and mining—and they’re just getting started.

“I’m really proud that we’re the first movers,” Atilla says, “but obviously a lot of work needs to be done.”

Want to learn more?

At Shapiro, we believe circular solutions aren’t just the future of sustainability—they’re what smart manufacturing looks like today.  Circularity is no longer optional. It’s essential. And we’re here to help manufacturers lead the way.

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