Nickel's lower reaches of Surawishi and the North Maluku Islands in the nickel resources are heating up, making Indonesia the largest nickel iron, nickel iron and stainless steel exporter. In 2022, the production of nickel ore in Indonesia increased by 54%year -on -year to 1.6 million tons.
As the automotive industry turns from nickel batteries to nickel -free batteries, and construction facilities in other promising electric vehicle markets in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is trying to release more investment related to electric vehicle batteries. The government is promoting nickel mining and processing to be more environmentally friendly to prevent the early end of the nickel battery, and the cash subsidies of electric vehicles have just taken effect.
Cooperation with the world's largest lithium -producing country Australia is now a priority for Indonesia to realize its ambitions. The goal of Indonesia President Joko Widodo is that 60%of the world's electric vehicles will depend on the battery made in Indonesia. At the same time, the world's second largest nickel production country Philippines has rejected another strategic concept, that is, establishing an OPEC nickel alliance to control nickel supply.
China has the most investment in the lower nickel industry in Indonesia, and the world's largest battery manufacturer and Chinese private enterprise CATL lead battery production. Baowu, the world's largest steel producer and Chinese state -owned enterprise, is also preparing to lead stainless steel with TSINGShan. Jindal, the leading stainless steel company in India, is ready to integrate into China's ecosystem.
Nickel's future demand: Since this corrosion -resistant material may be applied to more automotive components, the demand for stainless steel production may be higher. At the same time, the potential demand of electric vehicle batteries has weakened.
Due to the support of Chinese giants, Indonesia became one of the largest nickel products exporters. However, due to the limited nickel resources, this has brought risks to the ambition to establish a complete land upstream and upstream industries in Indonesia. Now, the Indonesian government has proposed a "problem solving" policy plan. At the same time, more investment inflows.
It is estimated that Indonesia has more than 50%of the world's nickel resources. After decades of resource exports, Indonesia has been seeking nickel processing in China since 2009. The government of Joko Widodo envisioned Indonesia to become a big country of electric vehicles and electric vehicles. Indonesia first requires a nickel mine to build a smelting plant, and then prohibited from exports from 2020, which is called a low -grade nickel nickel called brown iron ore. Belly iron ore is a key mineral for battery production.
Today, many downstream industrial areas (mainly located in Surawesi and North Malugu) have started or are about to start. According to data from the Indonesian Geological Agency, as of 2021, the country has 18 billion metric tons of nickel resources and 5.2 billion metric nickel reserves, and about 90%of the reserves are located in these two regions.
The first batch of downstream industrial areas on land nickel included in the Morrovari Industrial Park (IMIP) and Delong Industrial Park (VDNIP) of Indonesia. Both parks were operated by Chinese steel giants, Delong Nickel, Jiangsu. IMIP is located in Morowali in central Surawishi and began construction in 2014, while VDNIP is located in North Konawe, south of Surawishi, began construction the following year.
Aoyama has also developed a industrial area called Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Teluk Weda, a central Halma Rira province in central North Maruka. According to reports, Qingshan Group recently agreed to transfer some facilities to Chinese state -owned enterprises and the world's largest steel producer Bauwo Group (Bauwo). As one of the first batch of large -scale investment in Indonesia's nickel -reaches of nickel industries, Qingshan Group has established a strong cooperative relationship in Indonesia.
Aoyama is one of the partners of Huayou developing a nickel smelter in Indonesia. Huayou is a Chinese company that specializes in new energy battery materials. It is part of a consortium that cooperates with Indonesian battery companies (IBC). IBC is a battery holding company formed by four state -owned enterprises. industry.
Another OBI island nickel -nickel -nickel industrial zone located in North Maruku Halmahera has started. It is expected that it will soon compete with the Qingshan Industrial Park. The behind -the -scenes push of this industrial park is the local Harita Group. The company cooperates with a number of Chinese companies, including Lygend Resources Group, the largest nickel -mine trading dealer in China.
Other industrial areas will also be launched soon, including an industrial zone that will support Vale Indonesia. Vale Indonesia is one of the world's largest nickel producers and has one of Indonesia's largest nickel mining rights. Vale Indonesia has signed a cooperation contract with Chinese Chinese friends, top stainless steel manufacturers, South Korea -Poped Railway (POSCO) and American automobile manufacturer Ford.
Investment from Chinese giants is indeed strategic for Indonesia, because China is the world's largest stainless steel and electric vehicle market. The problem is that the existing nickel downstream industries produce intermediate products. Therefore, Indonesia is still regarded as supporters of industrialization of China and other countries.
In the past two years, Indonesia's nickel exports have increased significantly, especially for China, but it has mainly appeared in the form of nickel iron. Stainless steel exports have increased significantly, but considering that Indonesia has huge nickel resources, its exports are still much lower than the maximum potential.
According to data from the Indonesian Nickel Mining Association (APNI), by 2022, a total of 43 nickel processing plants and 199 nickel furnaces in Indonesia are operating, and this number will increase. Most of them are rotary kiln electric furnaces (RKEF), which treats high -grade nickel called rotten rocks to produce nickel -ray ore and nickel iron required for stainless steel. But only a few stainless steel factories operate in China. The remaining companies are using high -pressure acid immersion technology (HPAL), which can process battery materials called low -grade nickels called brown iron ore.
【Macro News】
1. Experts: Copper, aluminum and other strategic mineral consumption will continue to grow
2. Sangang Middle Board Factory is successfully achieved an annual output of 2.0331 million tons
3. Shougang steel rolling business line material line continuously breaks the Nissan record
4. "Steel 8" and "7 aluminum" key clearing tasks are fully completed
5. Shandong Port Yantai Port Mixed Iron Mine Japan and South Korea's bonded transfer volume exceeded 30 million tons
【Futures News】
Lun Niche fell, down 780 US dollars from the previous trading day, closed at $ 2,3005/ton; stainless steel fell 145 and closed at 14,780 yuan/ton.
【Wuxi Market】
201J1 mainstream reporting is about 9100-9300, J2J5 is reported to 8700-8800; 304 cold rolling 14700-15200, hot rolling 14800-15200, the period of nickel was affected by macro surface, a significant decline, stainless steel futures also plummeted; spot stocks; The pessimistic atmosphere in the market is strong, and some merchants continue to allow the shipments to ship, and the overall pressure operation.
1.Stainless steel market prices remain stable
In March 2023, the overall prices of the stainless steel market remained stable, with no significant ups or downs. Although the price of steel raw materials has increased, the market demand is still stable.
2.Steel industry restructuring promotes the upgrading of the stainless steel industry
The Chinese steel industry is undergoing industrial restructuring, which has also promoted the upgrading of the stainless steel industry. Some stainless steel companies are increasing their technological innovation efforts to enhance product quality and market competitiveness.
3.Foreign trade exports are growing
In March 2023, the export volume of Chinese stainless steel increased, especially the export volume to some overseas markets. This also indicates that the competitiveness of Chinese stainless steel companies in the international market is gradually increasing.
4.Environmental protection requirements are increasing
With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the stainless steel industry is also facing higher environmental protection requirements. Many stainless steel companies are increasing their environmental protection investment, adopting cleaner and more environmentally friendly production technologies to meet national and market environmental standards.
5.Rising labor costs
Due to the increase in labor costs, the stainless steel industry is facing certain production cost pressures. Some enterprises are reducing production costs and enhancing market competitiveness through automated production, improving production efficiency, and other means.
"The seawall upgrading project of the park's infrastructure and supporting facilities and the 35kv power transmission and transformation project were smoothly advanced in the first quarter." Recently, when I walked into Jinboyu Island, Xiashi Town, Putuo District, Zhoushan City, I could see that the pile drivers on the island were in full swing. The sand mixing facility of the building has also been erected, and the new seawall is being extended along the shoreline.
Here is the Jinboyu Lingang Industrial Park project, which is invested and constructed by Tsingshan Digital Technology Co., Ltd., a holding subsidiary of Tsingshan Group, a Fortune 500 company. It is planned to invest 5 billion yuan to build the whole stainless steel industry chain island. After completion and commissioning, the annual output value is expected to exceed 15 billion yuan and the tax revenue will exceed 200 million yuan. This project is a provincial key construction pre-arrangement project in 2021 and a major provincial manufacturing project in 2022.
In order to speed up the project, Xiashi Town established a special class for the Jinboyu Lingang Industrial Park project. Currently, the pile machine team, the masonry team, and the steel welding team on the island are working on the pile foundation construction of the office building and dormitory building. According to the person in charge of the special team, the special team is making every effort to promote the seawall upgrading project and the 35kV power transmission and transformation project, which are the key foundation of the project. Construction will be completed by July this year, while the seawall lift is expected to be completed by February 2023.
Talon Metals Corp's Tamarack Nickel Project (Tamarack Nickel Project) purchased three new drilling rigs. The new rigs will be used to expand Talon's exploration of the Tamarack Intrusive Complex for additional high-grade nickel, copper and cobalt.
Talon CEO Henri van Rooyen said: “The need to secure a domestic source of battery minerals such as nickel has become more urgent. Climate change is accelerating and the United States is dependent on foreign countries for key ingredients needed for clean energy and battery storage. Bipartisan in Congress With support, President Biden recently elevated domestic procurement of battery materials such as nickel to a national priority. “Our investment in Minnesota in new equipment, people and technology to explore battery minerals addresses this national priority and goal. "
He continued: “Talon’s in-house geology and geophysics team has established an initial high-grade nickel-copper mineralisation at the Tamarack nickel project, which will supply Tesla and potential other customers. Investing in new rigs and hiring people to deploy them 24/7 will hopefully confirm our geologists' view that Tamarack is a "regional-scale" resource similar to what other large nickel sulfide mines in Canada and Russia have proven. There are many high-grade mineralized zones."
Brian Goldner, Chief Exploration and Operations Officer at Talon, said: “Over the past two years, our in-house drilling and geology teams have been targeting and successfully hitting the Tamarack high-grade nickel-copper mine. Based on last year’s metrics alone, we have increased our hit rate from 50% A 95% improvement drilled a record 33,000 meters while intersecting a record amount of high-grade massive sulfide. With these new rigs, we plan to surpass past milestones and hope to demonstrate what Minnesota can do for the clean energy transition Contribute more and become a domestic source of infinitely recyclable battery materials such as nickel, copper, cobalt and iron.”
Talon, a base metals company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has entered into a joint venture with Rio Tinto at the Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota. Talon is entitled to up to 60% of the Tamarack Nickel Project and currently owns 51%. Talon is focused on expanding high-grade nickel mineralized resources to develop a mine plan to be submitted to Minnesota regulators. Talon has reached an agreement with Tesla Inc. to supply it within six years once commercial production is achieved from the Tamarack Nickel Project. 75,000 metric tons (165 million pounds) of nickel concentrate (and certain by-products, including cobalt and iron).
Ruipu Energy, a power battery production company under Tsingshan Holdings, has completed the shareholding system transformation and name change on April 7. The company's full name has been changed from Ruipu Energy Co., Ltd. to Ruipu Lanjun Energy Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Lanjun New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. merged. After completing the shareholding reform, Ruipu Lanjun plans to go public in Hong Kong. According to media reports, Ruipu Energy is seeking to raise about 3 billion yuan from new and old investors at a valuation of nearly 30 billion yuan.
Ruipu Energy Co., Ltd. was established on October 25, 2017, mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of power/energy storage lithium-ion battery cells to system applications, focusing on providing high-quality solutions for new energy vehicle power and smart power storage Program. At present, the main products are lithium iron phosphate and ternary batteries. It plans to produce 20Gwh in 22 years, and plans to expand its production capacity to 30Gwh in 2023. At this stage, it is aimed at the fields of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, construction machinery and energy storage. The main customers include SAIC-GM-Wuling , Dongfeng passenger car, Sungrow, etc. At present, it has a Wenzhou manufacturing base and a Shanghai R&D center. Last year, the company's sales revenue reached 2.4 billion yuan, doubling year-on-year. According to the statistics of China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, in the first two months of this year, the power battery installed capacity of REPUB was 0.18 GWh, ranking 12th in China. Its energy storage will rank third domestically in 2021.
It is understood that Canadian mining company Sherritt International will increase investment in nickel and cobalt mines in Cuba. At present, the annual production of nickel and cobalt mines in Moa and Holguín mines in Cuba is about 35,000 tons, and the output value is expected to increase by 20% after increasing investment.
Bloomberg (Bloomberg) said on this event that the current electric vehicle market that needs to use more durable batteries is rapidly emerging, and the demand for nickel and cobalt ore (durable battery electrode materials) has also increased. Leon Binedell, the new president of Sheritt International, visited Cuba in October 2021. Binedell expressed the hope to improve the country's nickel and cobalt mine production capacity, and said that the company will seek low-cost, low-risk investment methods Profit from continuous increase in production.
On April 20, 2022, according to a report released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS), nickel supply was in short supply during January-February 2022, with apparent demand exceeding production by 17,400 tons. For the whole year of 2021, the global nickel market will be in short supply by 146,900 tons.
At the end of February 2022, reported inventories (including warehouse receipts) held by the LME were 22,000 tonnes lower than at the end of 2021.
In January-February 2022, global refined nickel production totaled 447,600 tons, and demand was 464,900 tons.
From January to February 2022, the global mine nickel production was 425,900 tons, an increase of 48,000 tons year-on-year.
In January-February 2022, China's smelter/refinery output increased by 12,000 tons compared with the first two months of 2021, and the apparent demand was 248,200 tons, an increase of 42,000 tons year-on-year.
Indonesia's smelter/refinery output in January-February 2022 was 160,600 tons, a year-on-year increase of 21.6%, while demand increased by 15.7% to 64,200 tons.
In January-February 2022, global apparent demand increased by 63,000 tons year-on-year. Unreported inventory changes are not included in consumption statistics. Demand is measured in apparent numbers, and the possible impact of a nationwide lockdown has not yet been fully reflected in trade statistics.
Nickel smelter/refinery product production in February was 222,600 tonnes against demand of 223,600 tonnes.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) has put Glencore’s giant Mutanda copper-cobalt mine on a list of projects that could face renegotiation, while the critical battery metal mine is in the process of restarting.
The investigation into Mutanda comes as DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has stepped up scrutiny of mining deals under his predecessor Joseph Kabila. While the Congolese government is reviewing copper-cobalt mines controlled by China Molybdenum and China Iron and Steel, presidential advisers are renegotiating rights to multiple raw material licenses and royalty streams controlled by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler.
"When you look at what was happening in this area with the previous regime, in terms of concessions given to foreign companies, it's not a big deal," Andre Wamesso, the president's deputy chief of staff for economic issues, said in an interview in the capital Kinshasa on Thursday.
Shameful."
Some of Mutanda's licenses are due to expire next month, and Tshisekedi has used the renewal process to set up an ad hoc committee to assess the project's benefits to the country, Wamesso said.
A Glencore spokesman said via email on Friday that Mutanda had not been formally notified by any committee.
Glencore in December confirmed it planned to reopen Mutanda, which went into care and maintenance in 2019 after cobalt prices slumped. The commodities giant said the project will produce around 11,000 tonnes of cobalt a year between 2022 and 2025, with expected average production of around 76,000 tonnes of copper and 21,000 tonnes of cobalt over the entire 20-year mine life.
Mutanda reopens as the economy shifts to cleaner technologies that use electricity as an energy source and automakers' demand for the battery metal resumes. And cobalt and copper are key metals in the green transition.
Three of Mutanda's four licenses are due to expire in May, according to the DRC Mining Cadastre.
"This is an opportunity for us to very calmly see how things are going and whether there is an improvement in terms of rebalancing the partnership with Glencore," Wamesso said. "We are not against Glencore." He also added that any rebalancing would ensure the country's "interests are upheld".
The DRC's Mining Act stipulates that miners can only submit applications for license renewal through the Cadastre and the Ministry of Mines. Neither department responded to requests for comment. The bill also requires companies to transfer 5% of their shares to the national government upon renewal.
Under the Act, the Cadastral Board sends a compilation of license renewal materials to the Minister of Mines, who has 30 days to accept or reject the compilation. If the minister says nothing, the permit is considered accepted, provided the cadastre has advised the application to be accepted. After that, the renewal must be registered by the Cadastral Office.
A Glencore spokesman said Mutanda was being updated in accordance with the process set out in the Congolese Mining Act, with registration expected in the coming weeks.
Mutanda produced one-fifth of the world's cobalt and nearly 200,000 tonnes of copper in 2018, its last year of full production. According to Glencore's 2021 annual report, the company restarted processing oxide ore inventories late last year and explored future mining of the Mutanda sulphide resource.
Negotiations with China Molybdenum over its TFM mine have stalled over a dispute over a different definition of estimating the project's mineral reserves, Wamesso said.
The government believes that the company underestimated its reserves, preventing its minority shareholder (Jerkamin) from receiving contractual payments. Last month, the government said it was working to resolve the dispute amicably, and Jacamine suspended the lawsuit against China Molybdenum's TFM. Wamesso declined to comment on the legal process.
Vincent Zhou, a spokesman for China Molybdenum, said: "The two parties are engaging a third party to conduct an assessment, adding that TFM's production performance in the first quarter of 2022 was higher than planned.
On April 21, Anglo American released a report on nickel production in the first quarter. In the first quarter, the company's two mining areas in South Africa and Brazil produced a total of 13,900 tons. Among them, the output of the Brazilian mining area was 9,300 tons, down 8% year-on-year and 12% month-on-month; the output of the South African mining area was 4,600 tons, down 4% year-on-year and 19% month-on-month. The full-year nickel production target for 2022 remains unchanged at 40,000-42,000 tons.
Brazil business:
Barro Alto's nickel mine production in the first quarter was 7,900 tons, down 4% year-on-year and 8% month-on-month.
Codemin's nickel mine production in the first quarter was 1,400 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 26% and a month-on-month decrease of 30%.
The reduction was mainly due to late 2021 license delays, heavy rains and unexpected maintenance at Codemin and lower ore grades.
South African business:
Refined nickel production at the Mogalakwena mine was 4,600 tonnes, down 4% year-on-year and 19% month-on-month. The production cuts are mainly due to load shedding at Eskom and related impacts from Covid-19.
The specific production and sales are shown in the table below:
