Nickel: Market outlook to 2014

The devastating financial crisis that affected the world in 2008/9 has had a wide-ranging impact. As with most commodities, participants in the nickel industry have had to make adjustments. Producers have been forced to make severe cuts to output, while stocks at LME warehouses have been rising steadily. China has proved the exception, with both demand and production rising.

Ever increasing demand from emerging markets, coupled with a return to positive growth in the developed world should see stainless steel production increase in 2010 and 2011. Further out, new supplies of nickel will be required to satisfy rising demand. The majority of new projects will mine laterite ores using HPAL technology, which has not always proved reliable. If new projects struggle to find their way onto the market, nickel prices could once again surge to US$50,000/t. Could Chinese nickel pig iron provide the answer?

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