Nornickel on Thursday lowered its forecast for the global nickel surplus this year, but said it expected a bigger global palladium deficit.
Nornickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and high-grade nickel, said it expected the global nickel surplus to be about 100,000 metric tons this year, down from a previous estimate of 190,000 tons.
Most of the surplus would come from low-grade nickel, it said.
In 2025, the nickel surplus would remain at the same level of 100,000 tons, Nornickel said in a report.
“Growing nickel demand from the smelting (stainless steel, alloys and speciality steels) and electric vehicles sectors will be offset by both the commissioning of new nickel production capacity in Indonesia and increased supply of nickel metal and chemical compounds,” the report said.
Nornickel, whose share in palladium production exceeds 40%, revised its market forecast for the metal for the current year and said it expected a global deficit of 0.9 million ounces compared to a previous estimate of 0.4 million ounces.
The increased deficit was due to lower than expected secondary production, it said.
In 2025, it forecast the palladium market deficit to fall to 0.3 million ounces.
(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Andrew Osborn)
