The swagger of the nickel companies at a battery metals conference in Perth during the week was palpable.
Nickel’s price performance of late does not explain the swagger.
After a heroic run to $US7/lb in the middle of last year, the price got beaten up something shocking in the second half with just about everything else on US-China trade war fears.
The price has since climbed off the December lows of under $US5/lb to get back to just under $US6/lb in recent days, leaving it well short of the $US9/lb pricing that historically starts to get everyone excited about the metal.
But the nickel brigade is confident that excitement-inducing prices are on the way, hence their swagger.
They point to the ongoing drawdown in LME/SHFE stocks needed to meet demand from the stainless steel sector in the here-and-now, let alone the demand tsunami coming from the electric vehicle/battery storage revolution.
Nickel – particularly the almost boutique, in terms of supply, nickel sulphide type – is not ready for the revolution, unlike some of the other key battery materials such as lithium and graphite.
Nickel – particularly the almost boutique, in terms of supply, nickel sulphide type – is not ready for the revolution, unlike some of the other key battery materials such as lithium and graphite.
That assumes there is no breakthrough anytime time soon in making the world’s more abundant laterite nickel ores more competitive in the supply of high-grade nickel product suitable for use in battery manufacturing.
There was no fear at the conference of that happening anytime soon. Read more +
