The market was expecting delays' – Fastmarkets' William Adams on China's critical metals turnaround
China surprised the critical minerals industry by ramping up nickel production from Indonesia in a short period of time, noted William Adams, head of battery research at Fastmarkets.
On June 22, 2023, Adams spoke to Kitco at the 15th Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials 2023 in Henderson, Nevada.
Nickel prices are off nearly 30% year to date. Adams said nickel prices have been declining partly because of constrained electric vehicle sales in Europe. The continent's EV manufacturers prefer batteries with a higher nickel content. Indonesia has also been a supply surprise.
"We've seen a significant increase in supply from Indonesia," noted Adams, who said the Chinese started to partner with nickel miners in the country last decade. "They've brought on new nickel supply…in quite a surprisingly fast time.
"The market expected there would be delays, but even with COVID…they've still managed to push forward and get that new supply on the market."
Adam was asked to identify an under-covered metal in the critical minerals space.
"I think it's graphite," said Adams. "So much graphite is processed and produced in China. That's going to cause an issue. We're going to need to see much more diversification of supply within graphite."
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