Proactive investorsLogo Proactive Investors UK Website

Search field
Get Adobe Flash Player Download
Flash
Player ►

And
Enable
Javascript

1 year chart

digital-look imported chart image

1 day chart

digital-look imported chart image
Additional information
Additional Information
Market: .
Sector: General Mining
Epic: Nickel
News: Latest news
Web Site: Nickel
Other Articles: 08-03-201015-01-201031-07-2009 
Warning (2): curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set [APP/models/web_model.php, line 120]

RSS - Subscribe to the News Today on Proactive UK ▼

Thursday July 29, 09:30Specialist Energy Group Lays Out a Compelling Blueprint for Growth

After a difficult start to life as a stock market listed company, the company now stands at the threshold of a much brighter future. Legacy issues have been dealt with and the turnaround programme initiated by CEO Ewan Lloyd-Baker is gaining traction.

FULL ARTICLE ► 
Warning (2): curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set [APP/models/web_model.php, line 120]

RSS - Subscribe to the News Today on Proactive AU ▼

Wednesday July 28, 11:30Silver Lake Resources boosts high grade gold resource by 70% to 2.5m ounces

Silver Lake Resources has added over 1 million ounces of gold to its resource inventory during the year after mining 66,700 ounces and expects further encouraging results at its  Mount Monger and Murchison projects.

FULL ARTICLE ► 
Warning (2): curl_setopt() [function.curl-setopt]: CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION cannot be activated when in safe_mode or an open_basedir is set [APP/models/web_model.php, line 120]

RSS - Subscribe to the News Today on Proactive CN ▼

Thursday July 15, 02:10Henan Yuguang Lead & Gold investment in Kimberley Metals receives all clear from FIRB

Kimberley Metals (ASX: KBL) has reported that on 12 July the Australian Government Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) had no objections to Henan Yuguang Lead & Gold Co. Ltd's [...]

FULL ARTICLE ►
Nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a metallic chemical element similar in form to chromium, aluminum and titanium, but is slow to react in air at normal temperatures and pressures.  Nickel is magnetic and is valuable for the alloys it forms, especially many superalloys, and particularly stainless steel.


Thirty-eight percent of annual nickel use is in nonferrous alloys (or mixed with metals other than steel) and superalloys (metal mixtures designed to withstand extremely high temperatures and/or pressures, or to have high electrical conductivity). Nickel is used as a coating on other metals to slow down corrosion.  Nickel coatings account for 14% of nickel use.


The remaining 6% of the annual nickel use is for a variety of purposes including the production of coins, nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries; as a catalyst for certain chemical reactions; and, as a colorant, nickel is added to glass to give it a green color. The U.S. 5-cent piece is called a "nickel" because it only contains 25% nickel.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Nickel demand expected to pick up in 2010 - Roskill

by Roskill Information Services company news image

The fallout from the financial crisis that afflicted the world economy has seen nickel prices fluctuate wildly.  LME prices peaked at just over US$52,000/t in May 2007, on the back of strong demand and low stocks, but had fallen by over 80% by the end of 2008, as demand collapsed.  By the fourth quarter of 2009, however, prices had recovered to US$18,500/t.  

The fall in nickel prices has been largely due to a collapse in demand.  Data for the first nine-months for 2009 shows nickel consumption at the world level has declined by 9% year-on-year, as end-users aggressively cut inventories.  Output of nickel has also declined sharply.  For the first three quarters of 2009, nickel mine production fell by 18% year-on-year, while primary production was down by 6%.  Producers responded quickly to the fall in demand, with around a quarter of all production suspended during the first half of 2009.

While both demand and production of nickel declined in 2009, stocks at the LME built up steadily.  At the end of December 2009, official stocks at LME warehouses totalled in excess of 150,000t.  To put this into perspective, when nickel prices surged to above US$50,000/t, LME stocks totalled 4,700t. 

Nickel demand driven by China

The nickel market overall has seen strong growth in demand.  For the period 2000 to 2006, when demand peaked, consumption at the world level increased at an annual average rate of 3.8%.  Although consumption increased across the world, China exhibited the largest growth.  Between 2000 and 2009, its domestic demand is estimated to have risen by an annual average rate of almost 25%.  This phenomenal growth has seen China become the world's largest consumer of nickel.  In 1995 China accounted for a modest 4% of world consumption, increasing to almost 30% in 2008.

Demand for nickel is predominantly driven by stainless steel production, which accounts for around two-thirds of total nickel consumption.  Production of crude stainless steel began falling as early as the third quarter of 2007.  In 2008, output fell by 7% year-on-year, while the first three quarters of 2009 have seen production of crude stainless steel decline by around 15%, year-on-year.

The fall in production of stainless steel, however, has only taken place in developed economies.  Emerging markets such as China and India have seen domestic output rise.  The first three quarters of 2009, saw Chinese production rise by almost 20% year-on-year, while for the year, China is forecast to produce 8-9Mt.

At the world level, crude stainless steel production in 2009 is forecast to decline to around 25Mt.  However, 2010 is expected to see an increase in demand and production, as world GDP recovers.  Production of crude stainless steel is forecast to rise by around 8% in 2010.

New HPAL capacity to enter the market

In the first half of 2009, around a quarter of all production from 2008 was suspended - placed on care & maintenance.  Major producers such as Norilsk Nickel, BHP Billiton, ValeInco and Xstrata have all had to curtail production, while strike action at ValeInco's operations in Canada has also limited output.

While most of the major nickel producers have cut output in order to stabilise prices, BHP Billiton has sold nickel assets, appearing to distance itself from the nickel market.  The company sold its Ravensthorpe mine and Yabulu refinery in 2009.

The Ravensthorpe situation has attracted a lot of interest, as it is the first major nickel laterite production facility in a decade.  Laterite projects have been a source of frustration in recent years, as the technology has not proved 100% efficient.  The main extraction techniques are high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) and heap leaching.  The HPAL technology has received much criticism in recent years, owing to its high cost and the wear-and-tear hot acid can cause to plant and equipment.

Even though some HPAL projects have had technical difficulties, however, there are nickel deposits that are able to use the technology successfully.  The Moa Bay and Murrin Murrin deposits, in Cuba and Australia respectively, produce nickel on a regular basis, and new projects such as Goro, Vermelho and Ambatovy are due to come on-stream in the next few years.  Given that around 70% of total world reserves are laterite deposits, it is not surprising that the vast majority of all announced future projects are based on laterites.

Nickel prices to remain stable throughout 2010

Although global demand for nickel has fallen for three consecutive years, a recovery in the global economy should follow through to see consumption increase in 2010.  Roskill forecasts nickel consumption will increase by around 7% in 2010.

The rise in demand for nickel in the coming years is primarily due to an increase in demand for stainless steel.  Stainless steel production, the largest end-use for nickel, is forecast to reach 27Mt in 2010 (an 8% increase year-on-year), and almost 30Mt in 2011.

As demand for nickel increases across the globe, production is likely to follow suit.  A market surplus of around 75,000t is forecast for 2010, as output of primary nickel increases to 1.4Mt.

Given the market surplus forecast to develop between 2010 and 2012, nickel prices are expected to be stable.  The annual average price in 2010 is forecast to be around US$20,000/t, and expected to rise in both 2011 and 2012.  The average price between 2010 and 2012 is forecast at just over US$22,000/t. 

The above summary is extracted from the Roskill report entitled Nickel: Market outlook to 2014, edition 12 2010 published 08/01/2010 - 304 pages, 188 tables and 96 figures.  The full report is available from  Roskill Information Services Ltd, 27a Leopold Road, London SW19 7BB, England at £3500 / US $7000 / 5600 Euros.  Tel: +44 20 8944 0066. Fax +44 20 8947 9568 Email: info@roskill.co.uk, Web: http://www.roskill.com/reports/nickel

AddThis Feed Button
Register here to be notified of future Nickel articles.

Other Nickel articles


Other Nickel news

More news ►

Investors interested in Nickel recently viewed


No investment advice

The Company is a publisher and is not registered with or authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). You understand and agree that no content published on the Site constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable or advisable for any specific person. You further understand that none of the information providers or their affiliates will advise you personally concerning the nature, potential, advisability, value or suitability of any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, investment strategy, or other matter.

You understand that the Site may contain opinions from time to time with regard to securities mentioned in other products, including company related products, and that those opinions may be different from those obtained by using another product related to the Company. You understand and agree that contributors may write about securities in which they or their firms have a position, and that they may trade such securities for their own account. In cases where the position is held at the time of publication and such position is known to the Company, appropriate disclosure is made. However, you understand and agree that at the time of any transaction that you make, one or more contributors may have a position in the securities written about. You understand that price and other data is supplied by sources believed to be reliable, that the calculations herein are made using such data, and that neither such data nor such calculations are guaranteed by these sources, the Company, the information providers or any other person or entity, and may not be complete or accurate.

From time to time, reference may be made in our marketing materials to prior articles and opinions we have published. These references may be selective, may reference only a portion of an article or recommendation, and are likely not to be current. As markets change continuously, previously published information and data may not be current and should not be relied upon.