International Nickel Research Institute predicts that nickel demand will rise in 2022

According to data from the International Nickel Research Group (INSG), global primary nickel demand will increase to 2.8 million tons this year, and to 3 million tons next year, which is higher than the 2.4 million tons in 2020.


This growth is partly driven by the acceleration of the launch of the new crown pneumonia vaccine and the continued recovery of the global economy.


At the same time, the production of primary nickel is expected to reach 2.6 million tons this year and 3.1 million tons next year. It is expected that there will be a nickel shortage of 134,000 tons this year and a surplus of 76,000 tons in 2022. (The production of nickel in 2020 is 2.5 million tons, and the excess metal is 107,000 tons.)


However, the group warned that there is a certain degree of uncertainty in its data and warned that its estimates do not include possible production disruptions in China and Indonesia.


The export of unprocessed nickel ore from Indonesia, the world's largest nickel miner, has ceased in January 2020 due to the government's ban. This move means that China's nickel pig iron (NPI) industry has reduced the amount of nickel ore, leading to a decline in China's NPI production.


However, INSG pointed out that the addition of new NPI projects last year and the high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) projects being developed in Indonesia and other countries may increase nickel production. INSG said that the world's demand for nickel has increased from 1.1 million tons in 2000 to 2.4 million tons in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 3.8% in the past 20 years. Asia remains the largest nickel market, accounting for approximately 82% of global demand. China alone accounts for nearly 60% of global nickel demand, up from 5.5% in 2000.


INSG also released data from the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) on global stainless steel melting workshop production. ISSF's data is for the first half of 2021, showing that the output of the stainless steel melt workshop increased by 24.9% year-on-year, from 23.2 million tons in the first half of 2020 to 29 million tons in the first half of 2021.


China witnessed the largest growth in the first half of 2021, with the output of the stainless steel smelting plant increasing by 20.8% year-on-year, from 13.4 million tons to 16.2 million tons.

Although China has announced a possible production cut, it is expected to see strong growth in the rest of 2021, and further growth is expected in 2022.


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