Here are four key takeaways from Metal Bulletin's sixth Asian Nickel Conference held in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on September 12-13.
Battery sector's nickel consumption to soar; ramp-up of nickel sulfate production expectedWhile the stainless steel sector will remain the dominant consumer of nickel, demand from the battery sector is expected to surge fivefold over the next six to seven years, according to Metal Bulletin's head of research, William Adams. Nickel demand from lithium-ion battery producers is set to rise rapidly from the current 100,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes by 2025, while the market shifts toward more nickel-weighted batteries, such as the NCM 811 - a cathode composition of 80% nickel, 10% cobalt and 10% manganese.In turn, global nickel sulfate producers are expected to ramp up output to meet growing demand from the electric vehicle (EV) sector. For example, Chinese nickel sulfate production is forecast to reach 450,000 tonnes in 2018 according...