Sumitomo Metal sees global nickel market staying in deficit next year
The global nickel market is expected to remain in deficit for a third straight year in 2023 on solid demand for battery, chip-making equipment and oil-well tubular, Sumitomo Metal Mining said on Tuesday.
But the deficit will narrow to 63 000 tonnes from 108 000 tonnes this year, as low-grade nickel pig iron (NPI) output in Indonesia is expected to increase by 4.5% to 960 000 tonnes.
Sumitomo Metal, Japan's biggest nickel smelter, said global demand for the metal was seen increasing by 7.1% in 2023 from this year to 3.14-million tonnes, while supply was expected to climb 9.0% to 3.08-million tonnes.
"We expect strong demand to continue for batteries as well as semiconductor equipment, oil-well tubular and airplanes," Yusuke Niwa, general manager of Sumitomo Metal's nickel sales and raw materials department, told reporters.
Sumitomo Metal, which supplies cathode materials for the Panasonic lithium-ion batteries used in Tesla electric vehicles, predicted that global demand for nickel used in batteries would rise above 500 000 tonnes in 2023 from 410,000 tonnes this year on healthy demand for EVs.
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