Nickel supply prompted the most heated discussions among market participants at the annual Antaike International Nickel & Cobalt Conference in Yichang on November 5-6, especially those involved in the electric vehicle (EV) battery raw materials supply chain, because of volatilities in the past two months.
Meanwhile, the looming closure of Glencore's Mutanda copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) led to cautious consideration of the supply dynamics of cobalt amid the gloomy outlook for EV production growth next year. Fastmarkets summarizes six key insights at the conference in terms of the supply/demand dynamics and market trends for nickel and cobalt. Remaining Indonesian nickel ore quota 'sufficient to year-end' As of the end of October, the Indonesian nickel laterite ore export quota stood at 38.22 million wet metric tonnes, of which around 12 million wet metric tonnes had yet to be used, according to Beijing Antaike Information chief analyst Aidong Xu. "In November and December this year, the average monthly export volume of Indonesian laterite ore was 5 million wet metric tonnes, so that totals 10 million wet metric tonnes [over the period], which can be well covered by the remaining 12 million wet metric...