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Sumitomo Metal, which supplies cathode materials for the
Panasonic lithium-ion batteries used in Tesla EVs, said demand
for nickel used in rechargeable batteries will climb to more
than 410,000 tonnes in 2022 from nearly 330,000 tonnes in 2021.
Nickel is mainly used in stainless steelmaking, but is also a
vital ingredient for the lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs,
where demand is set to accelerate over coming years.
"Nickel demand for EVs is growing much faster than we had
expected a year ago," Yusuke Niwa, general manager of Sumitomo
Metal's nickel sales and raw materials department, told
reporters.
But higher nickel prices may erode demand in the long term as
companies will work to use less nickel or develop nickel-less
batteries, he said.
Sumitomo Metal also predicted that the global nickel market
deficit will narrow to 68,000 tonnes this year from 135,000
tonnes in 2021 as output of nickel pig iron (NPI) in Indonesia
is expected to grow to more than 1 million tonnes.
Global demand for nickel is seen increasing by 8.4% in 2022 to
2.999 million tonnes, while supply is expected to climb by 11.4%
to 2.931 million tonnes.
Japan's nickel demand is projected to rise 0.2% to 170,400
tonnes, while supply is forecast to increase 1.6% to 168,800
tonnes.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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