Nickel prices likely to rise due to Russia-Ukraine conflict
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is set to drive up the prices of nickel and other non-ferrous metals, such as alumimum, and copper, according to TrendForce.
These are all used extensively in the semiconductor and automotive electronics sector.
Nickel is used in cathodes for electric vehicle power batteries and is mined predominantly in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Russia, the market researcher said.
Although Russia only accounts for 9 percent of global production, the Russian manufacturer Norilsk is the largest supplier of high-grade nickel at 22 percent, TrendForce said. China’s Jinchuan Group ranks second at 17 percent, followed by Switzerland’s Glencore at 13 percent, and Brazil’s Vale SA at 12 percent.
In the medium- to long-term the flows of nickel may change with large numbers of smelting and processing projects being located in Indonesia since a ban on raw nickel ore export from Indonesia was announced in 2021.
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