Payables for black mass in key Asian markets showed potential for more downside in the week ended Wednesday January 31, according to market sources

Volume of refined nickel exported by China soared in 2023, official customs data released on Monday January 22 shows, after new entrants in the refining business stepped up their sales efforts in the overseas market

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI’s recent investment in Canada Nickel, despite falling nickel prices, is the latest example of companies forming long-term partnerships to secure electric vehicle supply chain production that qualifies for tax credits under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)

The rise in capacity-building in the past years in both China and Indonesia quickly turned nickel market once in short-supply into an oversupplied one, not only in China, but also globally

Oversupply caused by growing refining capacity in China overturned the fundamentals of the Chinese Class-1 nickel market in 2023 and the effects are expected to be extended and amplified in 2024, sources told Fastmarkets

Clearer standards are required in order to support the sustainable growth of its lithium-ion battery recycling sector

The pace of Chinese companies’ heavy investments in Indonesian nickel may slow in the new year with slumping prices eroding profitability amid additional geopolitical risks, Fastmarkets heard

Please note Fastmarkets has corrected its MB-NIO-0005 nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate, outright price, fob Indonesia, which was published incorrectly on Monday December 18.

The downtrend in China’s nickel pig iron (NPI) prices resumed in the week to Friday December 8 after pausing the preceding week, with the market still facing oversupply and slow demand from the stainless steel sector

Fastmarkets has launched daily inferred prices for black mass in South Korea and Europe, starting on Friday December 8.