MINING WEEKLY | 25 October 2017
“JOHANNESBURG – As the world speeds ahead with a move towards more electric vehicles (EVs), including hybrids, plug-ins and full electric cars, the nickel market is heading for deepening deficits, falling stocks and rising prices.
This is the view of Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Sean Mulshaw, who forecasts that the widely anticipated expansion of EV sales will exacerbate the predicted structural shortage in nickel between now and 2025.
Sales of passenger EVs are forecast to increase from 2.4-million in 2016 to about 14.2-million in 2025, which, in battery terms, is the equivalent of an increase from 26 GWh to 215 GWh over the same period.
Most of the batteries generating this power are expected to be based on nickel-containing chemistries.
…
The price of nickel has climbed in recent months, from $8 680/t in mid-June to $12 000/t this week.”
