Sumitomo sees global nickel demand for battery use to rise 18% in 2021
Global demand of nickel used in batteries is expected to rise 18% this year from 2020, backed by strong sales of electric-vehicles (EVs) in China, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Japan's biggest nickel smelter, said on Tuesday.
Sumitomo Metal, which supplies cathode materials for Panasonic lithium ion batteries that are used in Tesla EVs, said demand of nickel used in rechargeable batteries will increase to 228 000 t in 2021 from 193 000 t in 2020.
Nickel is mainly used in stainless steelmaking, but is also a vital ingredient for the lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs, where demand is set to accelerate over coming years.
"Sales of EVs are growing very fast, especially in China, despite the Covid-19 pandemic," Yusuke Niwa, general manager of Sumitomo Metal's nickel sales and raw materials department, told reporters.
"The recent drawdown in LME's nickel stocks is seen to reflect rising demand for the metal used in batteries," he said, pointing to a drop by more than 30 000 t over the past two months.
The company also predicted that a global nickel market surplus will narrow to 58 000 t this year from 132 000 t in 2020 as robust demand from the stainless steel sector will offset higher output of nickel pig iron (NPI) in Indonesia.
Global demand for nickel is seen increasing by 9.2% in 2021 to 2.58-million tonnes, while supply is expected to climb by 5.8% to 2.638-million tonnes.
During the first four months of the year, the global nickel market saw a deficit of 34,900 tonnes, the International Nickel Study Group said.
"But we expect a surplus later this year as more projects for NPI production in Indonesia will start up," Niwa said.
Japan's demand for nickel is projected to rise 15.7% to 167 400 t, while supply is forecast to fall 2.4% to 165 800 t.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...
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
