26 April 2022 – Nickel is the new oil. The fuel of the green transformation. And the raw material will soon be depleted. In less than 8 years, the first countries will run out of nickel. Was $100,000 per ton just the beginning? And Chinese industry continues to face logistical challenges in aluminium procurement.
Out of Nickel or the Day We Ran Out of Fuel
Nickel is integral to the Green Transformation and essential to the energy transition right now. Prices remain at peak levels – 100% higher than in 2021, 200% higher than in 2020 and almost 300% higher than in 2016.
The market remains in uncertain shock since the price briefly jumped above $100,000 per tonne in March 2022, shaking confidence in the London Metal Exchange (LME) and its shareholders.
$100,000 per tonne just the beginning?
But what if this was just the beginning, a glimpse of what is to come? The production increases in nickel to master the green transformation would have to be astronomical.
Conservative studies assume that each EU citizen will need an average of 2 kg of nickel per year by 2050 to become climate neutral. If we extrapolate this to a projected world population of 9.9 billion people in 2050, this would mean a global annual demand of about 20 million tonnes.
Do you know how much nickel is currently being produced? About 2.8 million tonnes per year. And do you know how much can still be mined? Let us tell you this much: Not enough…
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Aluminium: Rising demand and falling stocks
Due to the logistical challenges in China caused by the extensive corona lockdowns, downstream producers of aluminium products are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain raw materials for the production of coil, sheet, foil and extrusion products.
At the same time, stocks in warehouses have already emptied significantly due to increased demand. And new aluminium ingots are not yet expected. This mixed situation is supporting Chinese aluminium prices.
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Disclaimer: Many things here represent our opinion. Others are information from the Internet. We can therefore never claim to be correct or complete. And never base a business decision solely on the news you receive from us.
