foreign media news on october 5: sumitomo metal, japan's largest nickel smelter, released a semi-annual market outlook report predicting that as indonesia's low-grade nickel pig iron (npi) production will continue to grow, the global nickel market is expected to remain in surplus next year.
the report said that after indonesia's low-grade nickel pig iron production increased by 16.1% in 2023, it will increase by 10.3% to 1.27 million tons in 2024, and the global supply surplus will expand from 24,000 tons this year to 36,000 tons next year. . global nickel demand is expected to increase by 8.5% from this year to 3.35 million tons in 2024, while supply may increase by 8.9% to 3.39 million tons.
yusuke niwa, general manager of sumitomo metal nickel sales and raw materials division, said: "we expect that demand for batteries will be strong in 2024 as the electric vehicle market grows in china and europe. demand for stainless steel will also gradually expand."
