This article describes a commodity traded on a commodities exchange. View articles referencing this commodity.

 

TOP CONTRIBUTORS

Hermann S

Nickel is a metal which is mainly used as alloying element of stainless steel, major ingredient of brass, and for electroplating. Nickel is also used together with lanthanum in the nickel metal hydrid (NiMH) battery.^[1] Annual world production was 1.4 million tonnes in 2007.^[2]

[edit] Metal Exchange

Nickel is traded at the London Metal Exchange (LME).^[3]

[edit] Nickel Producers

Nickel deposits are classified as either sulfide or laterite deposits. Economical viable laterite deposits are huge but with lower concentration of the ore in comparison with sulfide deposits.^[4] Biggest producers are

• Vale
• Xstrata PLC (XTA-LN)
• BHP Billiton (BHP)
• JSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (NILSY)

[edit] Key Trends and Forces

[edit] Economic Cycles

Nickel prices are reacting significant to over or undersupply of the markets with the metal. Prices peaked at more than 50,000 USD/tonne in March 2007 and subsequently declined to less than 10,000 USD/tonne in February 2009. Unprofitable mines were closed as a consequence and one of those was the new Ravensthorpe laterite mine in Australia (BHP) which was supposed to produce 50,000 tpa after full rampup.^[5]

[edit] Emerging Economies

Usage of stainless steel is increasing with the growth of the economies. Average growth rate for stainless steel production in the BRIC countries was 26.3% during the years 2001-2008.^[6]

[edit] Different Types Of Stainless Steel

High nickel prices initiated a switch to 200-series steels. This type of steels have 3.5-6% nickel content rather than 8-10.5% in 300-series steels.^[7]

[edit] Substitution By Nickel Pig Iron

A further reaction to the high nickel prices in 2007 was the use of low grade nickel ore to create nickel pig iron as a substitute for refined nickel in China. This process is not sustainable if nickel prices are below 24,000 USD per tonne.^[8]

[edit] References

1. ↑ Wikipedia article on Nickel
2. ↑ International Nickel Study Group - Statistics
3. ↑ London Metal Exchange (LME) London Metal Exchange - Standard Nickel Hub Page
4. ↑ Environmental Sustainability Metrics for Nickel Sulphide Versus Nickel Laterite, December 2008
5. ↑ BHP shelves Ravensthorpe, slashes 1800 jobs, January 2009
6. ↑ Global Stainless Steel Forecast, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, January 2009
7. ↑ Substitution of low-nickel stainless steel grades finds momentum, September 2007
8. ↑ China Raises Nickel Pig Iron Production This Year, Juni 2007