# Nickel

The metal that makes stainless steel stainless and lifts battery energy density, now dominated by Indonesian laterite output.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/

Base metals · No. 10

- EU strategic
- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
- HHI 4,039 · highly concentrated
 Base metals · Foundation · Matter

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

1. Nickel gives stainless steel its stain resistance, and stainless and alloy uses exceed 85% of US demand.
2. A petrol car holds only 1-2 kg of nickel, against 40-60 kg in an electric car's battery.
3. Coal-powered Indonesian nickel pig iron emits about 70 t CO2e per tonne of nickel, about five times the cleanest routes.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Ore**Tropical laterite or magmatic sulfide
2. 2 **Processing**Concentrated, smelted or high-pressure leached
3. 3 **Intermediates**Ferronickel, nickel pig iron, matte, hydroxide
4. 4 **Refined nickel**Class 1 metal or battery-grade sulfate
5. 5 **End uses**Stainless steel, alloys, battery cathodes
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##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/links/index.md)