Nickel is back!

[frugal.rock]

Don't start trawler.... you didn't even mention price wars from China wanting their cut of the lost action back.
I'm moving to Brazil.

 

[mullokintyre]

Don't start trawler.... you didn't even mention price wars from China wanting their cut of the lost action back.
I'm moving to Brazil.

View attachment 165817

Brazil? Ya Nuts!.
mick

 

[sptrawler]

Don't start trawler.... you didn't even mention price wars from China wanting their cut of the lost action back.
I'm moving to Brazil.

View attachment 165817

Can I come? Well I hope so.

 

[Sean K]

Set to rebound in Q1 24?

I think there's some big assumptions on what Indonesia are going to do with production and also what's going on with Russian supply. Sounds like a best case scenario to me.

 

[Sean K]

This new company thinks there's a premium for low emissions Class 1 nickel, which I haven't really seen yet. Hope he's right. Also hope he's still looking to north east Brazil for Class 1 sulphide nickel deposits and not just operating mines.

 

[frugal.rock]

The chart tells all.
Just when you think it's bottoming, it digs deeper.

Some nickel stocks have some contrarian? interest, but I'm still not convinced yet.
I should start looking elsewhere and keep a lazy eye on this.

 

[frugal.rock]

The movie, or nickel?
Both way down there.

 

[frugal.rock]

Quite an interesting read.

Nickel Price Rangebound But Strong Demand Growth in Q1/24 - Article | Crux Investor

Nickel demand growth asserting itself despite rangebound prices, as Indonesia flexes control over market and automakers urgently seek to invest in new projects to secure EV supply.

www.cruxinvestor.com

 

[sptrawler]

Quite an interesting read.

Nickel Price Rangebound But Strong Demand Growth in Q1/24 - Article | Crux Investor

Nickel demand growth asserting itself despite rangebound prices, as Indonesia flexes control over market and automakers urgently seek to invest in new projects to secure EV supply.

www.cruxinvestor.com

The Europeans and the U.S will be getting nervous, the price is hovering around care and maintenance levels for the sulphate miners and they need battery grade nickel to differentiate their product from the Chinese.

 

[Sean K]

Quite an interesting read.

Nickel Price Rangebound But Strong Demand Growth in Q1/24 - Article | Crux Investor

Nickel demand growth asserting itself despite rangebound prices, as Indonesia flexes control over market and automakers urgently seek to invest in new projects to secure EV supply.

www.cruxinvestor.com

Be cautious of Mark Selby. If you look back through his interviews over the past 12 months he's been nothing but super bullish on nickel (and his company) and ramping it big time. Perhaps because Canada Nickel is in the toilet. He's also paying for his interviews on Crux as most CEOs do on Matt's platform. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could toss a ton of nickel. His call of a turn around on PON in Q1 next year is a complete pluck IMO and while I would love it to happen we're completely in the hands of China demand, Indonesian supply and Russian exports.

My2C

 

[Sean K]

Bloody hell, this is frightening. Where's the bottom? I only have one pure nickel play and IGO but I wonder whether I need to capitulate and lick my wounds. I assume that if I sell it'll turn around immediately.

 

[divs4ever]

Bloody hell, this is frightening. Where's the bottom? I only have one pure nickel play and IGO but I wonder whether I need to capitulate and lick my wounds. I assume that if I sell it'll turn around immediately.

View attachment 166571

well my PAN isn't really worth selling although Commsec's $4.99 brokerage fee would help reduce the pain , am still watching and nibbling at IGO and BHP is long ago left the station , and still watching and nibbling at NIC

but nickel has been through these mania cycles before ( i still have some Poseidon Nickel certificates inherited from the '70s )

i had a nice ride with Mincor , a sad ride with Western Areas , and a winning ride with OZL who went from a gold play to a copper play to a BHP nickel ( and copper)acquisition

but i suppose with the world trend to move away from coins as cash currency we did have some warnings ( if we didn't fall for the EV fantasy )

 

[sptrawler]

Nickel under US$8/lb, interesting to see if mines start getting put back on care and maintenance again.

With Lithium in the doldrums as well, the battery producers must be getting nervous, miners aren't going to keep mining it if they are losing money.

That was 9th November, today:

In todays paper, IGO mentioned Flying Fox has been put on care an maintenance and Spotted Quoll mine is to be put on care and maintenance.
Supply must start and get affected by the price soon, one would think.

Nickel

Nickel

www.ga.gov.au

The most desired attribute of nickel is its anticorrosion properties, with around 80% of nickel used in steel production in 20191. When alloyed with other elements, nickel imparts toughness, strength, resistance to corrosion and various electrical, magnetic and heat resistant properties. About 65% of world nickel output is consumed in the manufacture of stainless and heat resistant steel2. These steels are used widely in the chemical industry, motor vehicles, medical applications, electronic engineering and the construction industry. These steels are also used in consumer products such as sinks, cooking utensils, cutlery and white goods.

Other uses of nickel are in the manufacture of non‑ferrous alloys and electroplating. In 2020, nickel used for battery precursors constituted 5 to 8% of nickel demand3.

Substitutes for nickel are limited. Most nickel substitutes are expensive and result in a trade‑off in performance, compromising the application’s physical or chemical attributes4

 

[Sean K]

That was 9th November, today:

In todays paper, IGO mentioned Flying Fox has been put on care an maintenance and Spotted Quoll mine is to be put on care and maintenance.
Supply must start and get affected by the price soon, one would think.

Nickel

Nickel

www.ga.gov.au

The most desired attribute of nickel is its anticorrosion properties, with around 80% of nickel used in steel production in 20191. When alloyed with other elements, nickel imparts toughness, strength, resistance to corrosion and various electrical, magnetic and heat resistant properties. About 65% of world nickel output is consumed in the manufacture of stainless and heat resistant steel2. These steels are used widely in the chemical industry, motor vehicles, medical applications, electronic engineering and the construction industry. These steels are also used in consumer products such as sinks, cooking utensils, cutlery and white goods.

Other uses of nickel are in the manufacture of non‑ferrous alloys and electroplating. In 2020, nickel used for battery precursors constituted 5 to 8% of nickel demand3.

Substitutes for nickel are limited. Most nickel substitutes are expensive and result in a trade‑off in performance, compromising the application’s physical or chemical attributes4

Indonesia shooting themselves in the foot, China slowdown and slower uptake of EVs is the culprit I think. All entirely predictable to everyone except me.

 

[sptrawler]

Panoramic has gone into voluntary administration.

 

[Sean K]

Panoramic has gone into voluntary administration.

BHP, Wyloo et al are looking pretty foolish at the moment with the push into nickel. #metoo

Should have gone to Crown and put it on red.

 

[sptrawler]

China doing what China does best.

BHP issues dire warning on nickel mines

The Albanese government is overhauling its critical minerals strategy but the teetering nickel sector remains on the outer, with BHP and Forrest-owned mines at risk.

www.afr.com

The overhaul of the Albanese government’s critical minerals strategy offers no relief to the besieged nickel industry, which faces further job losses at BHP-owned mines.

BHP said its Nickel West business was not immune to the challenges suffocating the sector where some mines have shut down, and fellow producer Panoramic Resources was tipped into administration this week.
“We are working hard to remain globally competitive in a very tough operating environment. Costs have risen sharply and continue to go up while prices have fallen as new supply comes into the market,” she said.

Industry sources estimate Nickel West has been losing tens of millions of dollars a month. Andrew Forrest, meanwhile, is battling to keep open the Mincor nickel mines his Wyloo Metals business acquired for $760 million in July.
The government has made five additions to its critical minerals list and created a B-list for “strategic materials” that includes nickel and copper.

Nickel producers have lobbied hard for inclusion on the critical list amid a price slump driven by a flood of global supply from Chinese-backed operators in Indonesia. Nickel is classified as a critical mineral by key allies the United States and Japan.

The government added fluorine, molybdenum, arsenic, selenium and tellurium to its list, enabling access to $4 billion in taxpayer funding for the relevant producers. The commodities are all used in the defence and technology sectors.
The newly defined strategic materials list – ineligible for the $4 billion funding pool – covers nickel, copper, aluminium, phosphorus, tin and zinc.

Resources Minister Madeleine King said these were well-established industries with greater global market depth, clearer price transparency and stable supply chains.

Australian nickel miners have been hit hard by a slide in the nickel price this year, which is down about 50 per cent on the LME from around $US32,000 a tonne, and analysts have warned there is no end in sight to oversupply coming from Indonesia.

 

[sptrawler]

Funnily enough, if we had our own battery giga factory, it wouldn't matter that China was screwing us, we would supply our own batteries.
Shame we are spending all our money on other things, it will be interesting when China picks up our stranded nickel assets.
Sounds like another election cycle green can dream to me.

Albanese: Keep critical minerals in Australia, make our own batteries

Linking national security to domestic industry, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants to put money into projects that could expand manufacturing and recover from the loss of the big carmakers.

www.smh.com.au

Australia should keep more of its critical minerals inside the country despite requests from China to invest in new mines, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared in a pledge to spur local industries to make batteries and other renewable technologies.
Linking national security to domestic industry, Albanese said he wanted to put public money into projects that could expand local manufacturing and recover from the loss of the big carmakers over the past decade.

New graphite facility a first for Western Australia

A new graphite pilot plant processing facility – one of the first in Australia – has been opened in Collie, Western Australia.

resourcesreview.com.au

https://parliament.wa.gov.au/Hansard/hansard.nsf/0/8fcbcac2d98b3e67482583a900098247/$FILE/C40%20S1%2020190214%20p323b-330a.pdf

Could the Pilbara become Australia's ‘Lithium Valley’? - Stockhead

West Australia has been pushing to become a battery metals hub — and while all the buzz appears to be around Perth, one minister thinks the Pilbara could be a strong contender. WA’s regional development minister Alannah MacTiernan says the Pilbara has an abundance of lithium, and while it would...

stockhead.com.au

 

[divs4ever]

Panoramic has gone into voluntary administration.

yep, i was half expecting that and refused to buy more in the recent cap raises

does Twiggy buy it from the receivers ( since last i heard he held 20% courtesy of the WSA take-over )

 

[peter2]

Anticipating a much better year for nickel (couldn't get much worse).

No price chart as it seems that Kitco is battling a cyber attack.