Nickel prices seen at $20 000/t next year
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Nickel prices on the London Metals Exchange (LME) were expected to average at $20 000/t in 2015, owing to an expected shortfall in new production, coupled with a ban on ore exports from Indonesia, financial adviser Alto Capital reported at the Paydirt Nickel conference.
Nickel prices traded at a six-month low of $16 095/t on Thursday, as the LME reported record inventories in nickel stockpiles.
Alto senior analyst Carey Smith said in Perth, on Thursday, that while the LME stockpiles were currently at record highs, this was expected to drop off during the remainder of the year as nickel pig iron (NPI) supply from China dried up.
China’s production of NPI is estimated to decline to 350 000 t this year, from the 500 000 t the country produced in 2013. By 2015, NPI production was expected to reach only 200 000 t, which Smith pointed out would leave a 300 000 t shortfall in China’s NPI production.
“This shortfall will drive the need to source additional nickel feed, and this, in turn, will drive the LME stockpiles down, and they will decrease going forward,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Smith pointed out that delays in new nickel projects would result in a three- to six-year delay for new production to come on line, which combined with Indonesia’s recent ban on nickel exports, would further drive nickel prices.
“The new projects will partially offset the NPI shortfall, but the one plus is that any new laterite project is unlikely to be built within the next decade,” Smith said, pointing out that the capital costs for these projects had more than doubled, with investors proving hesitant to back these projects.
“These types of projects are off the table for at least 10 to 12 years,” Smith said.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Occupational health services, mobile clinics, wellness campaigns, aviation.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Established on 1 March, 2000, by Barries Barnard, Advanced Fire Suppression Technologies (AFST) and the Advanced Group stands as Sub-Saharan...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
