6 August 2024 – The Japanese Nikkei 225 Index jumped by more than 10% on Tuesday. Many other stock indices also showed a very favourable trend today. High-grade nickel reserves in Indonesia to be depleted in around 13 years – Indonesian government suspends construction of new RKEF nickel smelters and announces USD 13 billion investment programme for sustainable energy in Sulawesi.
Nikkei index jumps more than 10% upwards on Tuesday
From what could be observed, the global stock markets have recovered after a turbulent Monday. In particular, the Nikkei 225 Index, which had lost significant ground yesterday, showed gains of more than 10% today, Tuesday. The Korean stock index KOSPI rose by 3.3%. The Indian Nifty 50 is up by around 0.44%.
German DAX with trend reversal already on Monday
The German share index DAX had already ended its downward slide yesterday afternoon and had risen again significantly. It is currently up by around 0.77%.
The indices futures have also calmed down and are looking favourable today with gains of more than 1% in some cases.
Indonesia halts construction of new nickel smelters to preserve reserves
On Friday last week, the Indonesian government agreed on a moratorium on the construction of new nickel smelters in order to conserve the country’s rapidly dwindling nickel reserves.
According to several recent reports from 2024, Indonesia is currently also officially assuming that the currently known high-grade nickel ore reserves will be used up in the next 13 to 15 years.
Indonesian government provides clean energy supply for smelters in Sulawesi
The Indonesian government has launched an investment programme of around 13 billion US dollars to supply the nickel smelters in the Sulawesi region with sustainable energy from natural gas by 2030.
Nickel smelters switch to renewable energies
Irrespective of the government programme, the local smelters have already started to convert their nickel production to sustainable and renewable energies. This can be seen, for example, at the Ceria Nickel Smelter, which has been supplied with clean electricity from the Bakaru Hydroelectric Power Plant since July 2024.
Green energy becomes a problem for EU market protection measure CBAM
Switching to renewable or more sustainable forms of energy (such as natural gas or nuclear power) not only reduces manufacturers’ direct CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2), but also indirect (Scope 3) emissions.
This is also a game changer in stainless steel production, which is being watched with suspicion by European steel and stainless steel mills and the EU Commission in Brussels. A simple switch in energy production from e.g. coal to hydropower, natural gas or nuclear energy could result in massive CO2 savings, which could permanently undermine the EU Carbon Border Tax and market protection measure CBAM.
Latest news
- NPI prices continue to rise due to robust demand
- Indonesian nickel ore and NPI prices have risen strongly since start of the year
- Nickel prices in Asia rose again on Thursday
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