Demand for Nickel over the coming decade will be driven by both the steel industry, and also storage battery sector. In 2017, nickel used for storage batteries and EVs represented only 3% on total demand, as compared to two-thirds of supply going towards stainless steel. However, as the popularity of electric vehicles continues to grow, the sector is expected to account for an increased amount of nickel demand. 78 Lithium-ion batteries that power EVs require nickel with that need for nickel increasing going forward. UBS Group recently stated that by 2025 batteries will account for 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes of demand per year; current annual nickel demand stands at 2.1 million tonnes. Scotiabank suggests that global demand for nickel could increase (in aggregate) by between 10%-15% to 2025 from the EV sector along. 79
Figure 40: WA Forecast Volume of Nickel Exports 40
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024 FY2025 WA Forecast Nickel Exports to 2025 Forecast 10% p.a. (CAGR) Forecast 15% p.a. (CAGR) Simple Average Source: InfraNomics The forecast export of nickel shown in Figure 40 utilises MIRS data as a basis. All other assumptions, such as WA’s share of global nickel exports, potential for new and unplanned mining operations, have been left unchanged. Table 17 sets out a number of key volume increase outputs from the analysis. Table 17: WA Key forecast volume changes for Nickel Exports FY2017 FY2020 FY2025 Export volume (ktpa) 157.4 209.5 - 239.4 337.5 - 481.6 Export volume increase (ktpa) – previous period n/a 52.1 - 82.0 127.9 - 272.04 Export volume increase (%) – previous period n/a 33% - 52% 61% - 114% Source: InfraNomics
78 Shaw, M (2017), Nickel Outlook 2018: Price Gains and Growing Battery Boom, 7 December 2017, Investing News, https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/base-metals-investing/nickel-investing/nickel-outlook-price-gains/ . (Accessed: 01 May 2018) 79 Shaw, M (2017), Nickel Outlook 2018: Price Gains and Growing Battery Boom, 7 December 2017, Investing News, https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/base-metals-investing/nickel-investing/nickel-outlook-price-gains/ . (Accessed: 01 May 2018)
Page 115
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator