Nickel
The metal that makes stainless steel stainless and lifts battery energy density, now dominated by Indonesian laterite output.
Base metals · No. 10
- EU strategic
- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
- HHI 4,039 · highly concentrated
One country, Indonesia, now mines 62% of the world's nickel and supplied almost all the growth since 2020.
Chart: Illustration: Nickel
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Nickel comes from tropical laterites, which hold 54% of identified resources, or from sulfide deposits like Norilsk in Arctic Russia, which also yield copper, cobalt and platinum metals.
Three things to know
- Nickel gives stainless steel its stain resistance, and stainless and alloy uses exceed 85% of US demand.
- A petrol car holds only 1-2 kg of nickel, against 40-60 kg in an electric car's battery.
- Coal-powered Indonesian nickel pig iron emits about 70 t CO2e per tonne of nickel, about five times the cleanest routes.
The journey
- 1 OreTropical laterite or magmatic sulfide
- 2 ProcessingConcentrated, smelted or high-pressure leached
- 3 IntermediatesFerronickel, nickel pig iron, matte, hydroxide
- 4 Refined nickelClass 1 metal or battery-grade sulfate
- 5 End usesStainless steel, alloys, battery cathodes