THE demand for nickel has yet to recover post-pandemic despite global economic rebound, the Philippine Nickel Industry Association said yesterday.
“Not really for nickel, because (of the) weaker China economy, the oil price is down because there is an oversupply, particularly coming from Indonesia, so I think that’s the one affecting the market for nickel,” said the group’s president Dante Bravo.
Bravo also said the nickel volume in the next six to 12 months would be lower than last year, which would also result in lower earnings.
He noted, however, that he expects the demand for nickel to recover by the first half of 2024.
“China, when you talk about economic recovery, I think they’re fast-acting on that. And so we see that sometimes, after two quarters, they’re able to rebound. Though we’re seeing some surplus of nickel supply next year,” he said.
The Philippines is the world’s second largest nickel producer, having mined about 10 percent of the in-demand metal globally in 2022. The world’s largest nickel producer is Indonesia, which mined half of total output last year.
Bravo said he sees more investment in nickel in the Philippines in the next few years.
“We’re seeing more takeup in the nickel space for the battery-grade sector over the next five years, (it’s) probably gonna take up more than 20 to 30 percent. Right now the electric vehicles space is up more than 60 percent for the last 10 years, and we’re gonna see that, doubling up probably over the next five years,” he noted. (ABS-CBN News)
