[ferro-alloys.com] In the long run, we see very good prospects for the battery sector becoming the main driver of global nickel consumption. The forthcoming shift in favour of more nickel-intensive technologies (NCM and NCA) in battery cathode material alongside the growing share of electric vehicles in the global cars’ production should drive up strongly the demand for Class 1 nickel products towards 2025. By this year, we forecast that an incremental annual increase in nickel uptake from batteries could exceed 500 thousand tons (which equals almost half of the current consumption of Class 1 nickel). Until then the price recovery will be subject to the drawdown of nickel exchange inventories, which remains at 70 days of global consumption. In addition, we see major potential for further substitution of Class 1 nickel products in STS with Class 2, thus making the former available to cover any incremental demand coming from the battery and other sectors.

NORNICKEL will attend the 5th Asian Pracific Steel & Ferro-Alloys Inti Conference in Jakarta, Indonisia, from Mar 14th to 16th, 2018.

• [Editor:王可]