印尼是全球最大的镍生产国，该国目前占全球供应量的一半以上，这一比例到2030年可能进一步提升至3/4。镍是制作锂离子电池的重要原材料，系实现全球能源转型所必不可少的绿色金属之一。① The nickel price has been low for the past two years, mainly due to the impact of Indonesia's low-priced nickel on the market and factors such as slowing sales of electric autos; ② Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia stated on Friday that the country is controlling the amount of nickel ore produced by its miners to balance market supply and demand.
Financial Associated Press October 18th news (Editor Xia Junxiong) local time on Friday (October 18th), Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia stated that the country is controlling the amount of nickel ore produced by its miners to balance market supply and demand.
Bahlil Lahadalia stated at a media briefing held in Jakarta on Friday: "We need to maintain a supply-demand balance. If demand is low and supply is sufficient, then the nickel price will fall."
Indonesia is the world's largest nickel producer, currently accounting for more than half of global supply, a proportion that may increase further to three-quarters by 2030. Nickel is an important raw material for making lithium-ion batteries, one of the essential green metals to achieve global energy transformation.
The nickel price has been low for the past two years, mainly due to the impact of Indonesia's low-priced nickel on the market and factors such as slowing sales of electric autos.
Nickel is traditionally divided into two types, with low-grade nickel used for making stainless steel, and high-grade nickel used for making electric vehicle batteries. Indonesia's large-scale production of low-grade nickel has led to oversupply, and importantly, innovative processing technologies have enabled excess low-grade nickel to be refined into high-quality products.
Due to soft demand for nickel's largest market stainless steel, the nickel price continues to struggle to rebound significantly from its low point. Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) are currently trading near $17,000 per ton.
According to a previous report by Macquarie Group, when the nickel price is $18,000 per ton, 35% of nickel production is unprofitable, and when the nickel price falls to $15,000 per ton, this number will rise to 75%.
Due to the continued low nickel prices, some large companies have started to cut back on nickel-related businesses. In June of this year, the German chemical giant BASF announced plans to terminate the project to build a nickel-cobalt refinery in Indonesia in partnership with the French mining company Eramet.
In July, the world's largest mining company, BHP Group Ltd, stated that it will temporarily suspend its nickel operation in Australia until early 2027 and reconsider this decision. The reason is that global nickel oversupply has severely disrupted the market, causing the company's local nickel business to fall into a loss-making state.
