The nickel market must switch its focus to class-one nickel production if it is to meet projected battery demand, analysts said during London Metal Exchange Week 2019.
Analysts are concerned that traditional production focus on stainless steel may prevent adequate supply of battery-preferential nickel coming online even though this sector will eventually eclipse stainless steel demand. "The exciting area for nickel at the moment is that more nickel will be consumed in lithium-ion batteries and will become [a] bigger [nickel consumer] than stainless steel in time," Fastmarkets head of base metals and battery research, William Adams, said. Fastmarkets research expects more than 500,000 tonnes of nickel to be used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, compared with 100,000 tonnes in 2018.The anticipated transition to 8-1-1 NCM chemistry batteries for EVs, which will comprise eight parts nickel to one part cobalt and one part manganese, will further bolster this requirement, though the timeline for market uptake thereof is more uncertain.But while nickel production has focused on ensuring supply for stainless steel, which occupies a 68-70%...