Proposal to amend nickel low-carbon briquette premium

Following the launch of the nickel low-carbon briquette premium in May 2024, there have been significant shifts in market structure, including the closure of some nickel operations, which have significantly tightened the pool of liquidity available for the low-carbon assessment.

But Fastmarkets continues to see interest in pricing transparency for low-carbon metals and is committed to maintaining its price coverage of this market.

To provide transparency to this market, and increase the pool of liquidity, Fastmarkets proposes to expand the premium to cover all exchange-deliverable shapes of nickel metal.

These are briquettes, uncut cathode, cut cathode, pellets and rounds.

The proposed amended specification is below, with changes in italics.

MB-NI-0256 Nickel low-carbon metal premium, cif global, $ per tonne
Quality: Any exchange deliverable shape of Class 1 nickel metal, conforming to 99.80% min primary nickel: ASTM B39-79 (2013) or GB/T 6516-2010 – Ni9990 grade.
Carbon limit: 18tCO2e per tonne of nickel briquette produced, Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, measured following ISO14040 standards or via an independent third-party lifecycle assessment (LCA).
Additional ESG factors: All assets and third-party feeds should be in compliance with ICMM’s Mining Principles and Towards Sustainable Mining, as well as the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA).
Quantity: Min 20 tonnes
Location: CIF global premium, premium on top of exchange or trade platform listed nickel price
Timing: Up to 12 months
Unit: USD per tonne
Publication: Monthly, first working day of the month, 4pm London time
Notes: This premium will follow the UK pricing calendar and will be assessed from London. Sanctioned material will not be considered for the assessment.

This price is part of the Fastmarkets base metals package.

The consultation period for this proposed amendment starts from Tuesday July 30 and will end on Thursday August 29. The amendment will then take place, subject to market feedback, on August 30, with the first publication of the price with the new specification taking place on September 2.

To provide feedback on this price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to this price, please contact Callum Perry and James McKeigue by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Callum Perry/James McKeigue re: nickel low-carbon metal premium.”

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.