January 25, 2022

Most commodities and equities sold off yesterday as the escalating Ukrainian situation weighed on markets.  Nickel was no exception and closed down nearly 7% on the day. Equities recovered late in session, after the LME markets closed.  Nickel prices are hovering near unchanged this morning.

Also out yesterday, China’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co, has shipped its first batch of nickel matte from its Indonesia-based plant, according to Bloomberg. Production at the plant began last month. The company currently has three nickel matte production lines of nickel matte under operation with a monthly capacity of approximately 3,000 tons of nickel content per line, with more production lines planned in the future. At current capacity Nickel matte is an intermediate product that can be further processed into battery chemicals. This new production could ease supply constraints that currently plague the market. Estimated global production was 2,500,000 mt in 2020 according to USGS.  (1/25/2022) 

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