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Sensitivity Settings

Sensitivity settings let you test how a change in one model assumption affects your results. You pick a model row for a site, say from which year it changes and by how much, and Capex Strategy draws an extra sensitivity line next to each line in your line charts. Use it to answer questions such as "what happens to value if the energy price is 10% higher from 2028?" without editing the cash flow or creating a new alternative.

What are sensitivity settings?

A sensitivity setting is a saved what-if change on one model row of one site. Capex Strategy runs a second, sensitised calculation next to the standard one. Your cash flow and alternatives stay unchanged.

Each sensitivity has three levers:

Step: a one-off change that lasts. Step 10% from 2028 means the row is 10% higher in 2028 and every year after.
Trend: a change that compounds each year. Trend 5% from 2028 means 0% in 2028, +5% in 2029, +10.25% in 2030 and so on.
FX: how much the row reacts to an exchange rate sensitivity that you set on the special FX row for the same site.

The change flows through the model. If you raise the energy price, every row that is calculated from it, such as energy cost, EBITDA, cash flow and value development, moves in the sensitised calculation too.

Who sees a sensitivity?

Sensitivity settings are stored per site and shared by the whole project. The same sensitivity applies to that site in the Base Alternative, in every Strategic Building Block (SBB) and in every Strategic Alternative (SA). This keeps alternatives comparable under the same assumption.

Before you begin

Three things must be in place before sensitivity settings show up in your charts.

What	Where	Who sets it
The permission Sensitivity data/parameters. Read shows the page and its list. Edit adds the edit button. Create adds the Add, edit and delete buttons	Admin, user groups	Administrator
The project setting Use sensitivity switched on	Admin > Capex Strategy > Project > Settings	Administrator
The model row has Sensitivity allowed and Sensitivity for mill checked	Model building > row Properties	Model owner

🔧 Configuration: You can open and fill in the Sensitivity settings page without Use sensitivity. The setting controls whether line charts show the sensitivity lines and whether the cash flow export offers Include sensitivity.

📌 Note: The sensitivity checkboxes in the row Properties popup only appear for rows in a site (mill) block or a division (group) block that are not text rows. Sensitivity for mill and Sensitivity for group stay greyed out until Sensitivity allowed is checked.

How do I add a sensitivity?

You add a sensitivity per site, one block row at a time.

Open Sensitivity settings in one of two ways:
- In an alternative, click the gear icon next to Reports in the left menu.
- In Presentations, click the gear icon next to Charts.
In the site list on the left, click the site. The first site is selected when the page opens.
Click Add.
In Block row, select the model row to change. You can type to search the list.
In Start year, type the first year the change applies to.
Enter Step, Trend and FX as percentages. Each field starts at 0%.
Click Create.

The popup closes and the new row appears in the list for that site.

Field	What to enter
Block row	The model row to change. Required. A row already used for this site is not offered again, but you can use it for another site. The list also holds a special row named FX, which sets the exchange rate sensitivity for the site
Start year	A whole year, for example 2028. Required
Step	A one-off change that lasts from the start year. 10% raises every year from the start year by 10%
Trend	A yearly change that compounds from the start year. 10% gives +0% in the start year, +10% the year after, +21% the year after that
FX	How strongly the row follows the exchange rate sensitivity. It only has an effect when the same site also has a sensitivity on the block row named FX. Leave at 0% otherwise

📌 Note: If you have no Reports permission, the gear icon is replaced by a text link Sensitivity settings. If the Add button is missing, the project is locked or you lack the Create level of the permission.

The Add popup with Block row, Start year, Step, Trend and FX.

How do I change or delete a sensitivity?

Change a sensitivity

Open Sensitivity settings and click the site.
Click the pencil icon on the row.
Change any field, including Block row.
Click Save.

Delete a sensitivity

Open Sensitivity settings and click the site.
Click the red bin icon on the row.
In the Delete popup, click Delete to confirm.

⚠️ Warning: Sensitivity settings belong to the project, not to one alternative. A change or delete made from any alternative changes the sensitivity lines of every alternative, for every user in the project.

How is the sensitised value calculated?

For each year, Capex Strategy multiplies the row's standard value by a sensitivity ratio and, when used, an FX term:

Sensitised value = Standard value × R × (1 + (R_FX − 1) × FX)

R is the sensitivity ratio of the row. It is 1 before the start year. From the start year it is (1 + Step) × (1 + Trend) raised to the number of years since the start year.
R_FX is the sensitivity ratio of the FX row for the same site, calculated the same way from its own start year, Step and Trend. Without an FX row sensitivity it is 1, and the FX term has no effect.
FX is the FX percentage on the row itself.

Example: Step and Trend

A row with a standard value of 100 in every year, start year 2028, Step 10%, Trend 5%:

Year	Ratio R	Sensitised value
2027	1.000	100.00
2028	1.100	110.00
2029	1.155	115.50
2030	1.213	121.28
2031	1.273	127.34

Example: FX

The same site has a sensitivity on the FX row with start year 2028 and Step 10%. A row with standard value 100, Step 0% and FX 50% then gets 100 × 1 × (1 + (1.1 − 1) × 0.5) = 105 from 2028.

📌 Note: Only forecast and trend years are sensitised. History years always keep their standard values, even if the start year lies in the history period. A trend still counts from the start year, so with start year 2020, Trend 10% and a forecast that starts in 2024, the first forecast year already carries four years of trend.

Where do I see the result?

In line charts

When Use sensitivity is on, every line in a line chart gets a sensitivity line. It works in Reports > Charts in an alternative and in Presentations > Charts folders.

The sensitivity line has the same colour as its standard line and is drawn thinner.
It has no legend entry of its own. Click the standard line in the legend to hide or show both.
Other chart types, such as bar charts, do not show sensitivity lines.

The thin line in the same colour shows the result with the sensitivity applied.

In the cash flow Excel export

In an alternative, open Cash Flow and click Export.
Tick Include sensitivity.
Click Export.

The workbook then has extra sheets for the sensitised calculation. Sheets ending in _s hold the sensitivity results. The Se and Se_Params sheets, which hold the ratios and the settings, are only included if you have the Sensitivity data/parameters permission.

📌 Note: The Include sensitivity checkbox only appears when Use sensitivity is on for the project.

What should I watch out for?

Why does my chart not change after I add a sensitivity?

Charts keep the old result until the project is reloaded. After you add, change or delete a sensitivity, reload the project before you read the charts.

Why is a row missing from the Block row list?

The row needs Sensitivity allowed and Sensitivity for mill in Model building. Text rows are never listed. In a project with several divisions that use different site blocks, the list may not show every eligible row.

Why does a row in the list have no effect?

A row that only has Sensitivity for group checked appears in the list, but only rows with Sensitivity for mill are changed. Check Sensitivity for mill on the row in Model building.

Why does my FX value do nothing?

The FX percentage on a row only works together with a sensitivity on the FX row for the same site. Add one with the Step or Trend you want for the exchange rate.

Can I add the same row twice for a site?

No. Each block row can have one sensitivity per site. To change it, edit the existing row.

🔒 Sensitivity settings cannot be typed into the cash flow sheets. Use the Sensitivity settings page.

📌 Note: Changes to sensitivity settings are not recorded in the Logs.