Analysis - BHP Faces Nickel Choice This Year as High-Cost Australian Miners Suffer usnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Australian nickel producers, hit by a sharp jump in supply from rival Indonesia, are starting to buckle under low prices that analysts expect will force a rethink by top global miner BHP Group on its nickel strategy this year. But Australia's producers have been squeezed by Indonesia's emergence as a supply powerhouse and on the demand side by innovations away from using nickel in batteries, which have led to a 40% price slump over the past year to around $16,000 a ton. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP), which does not use nickel, has been gaining ground as the EV battery chemistry of choice, especially in China, because LFP batteries can be produced more cheaply, making EVs more affordable.
Australian nickel
producers, hit by a sharp jump in supply from rival Indonesia,
are starting to buckle under low prices that analysts expect
will force a rethink by top global miner BHP Group on
its.