Russia’s Nornickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and a major producer of refined nickel, said on Tuesday it sees the global nickel market maintaining a surplus of 150,000 metric tons in 2024-2025.
The company said it expects the palladium market to approach balance in 2024 and reach balance in 2025. It said it had revised its previous estimate of the 2024 palladium market deficit, excluding investments, from 900,000 ounces.
The market surplus in high-grade nickel was mainly due to the inflow of cathode nickel from China, the company said.
Nornickel is not subject to direct Western sanctions, though sanctions against Moscow have prompted some Western producers to avoid buying Russian metal and complicated payments, leading Nornickel to redirect sales to Asia.
(By Anastasia Lyrchikova and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Louise Heavens)
