Electric Vehicle excitment and changing China regulatons have seen nickel soar in 2017 with prices up about 30 percent since mid-June. At LME week the industrial metal has all the buzz as battery makers are using more nickel in electric vehicle's power sources.
Brokers have been pushing nickel options and futures as a way to play the EV supply chain. With the race to longer driving ranges battery storage capacity is at the crux of the development. Models that use more nickel to increase the amount of power they can store are att he forefront.
Wood Mackenzie estimate that nickel demand in EV batteries will jump from about 40,000 tonnes in 2016 to 220,000 tonnes in 2025. The global nickel market is 2.1m tonnes in size, the move would be over 10% of the market.
Geoffrey Sambrook, known as Lord Copper in reference to EV batteries says.“That’s what the world is focusing on,”
“We all know copper will perform well with the increase in EVs but it’s the minor metals where the interest is.”
More on Industrial Metals
- LME to Add Battery Metals Lithium & Cobalt Futures Contracts
- Copper Breaks 3 Year Highs Ahead of China Congress
- Base Metals Pause After Zinc, Lead and Nickel Manic Buying
- Commodities Get Boost From China's Xiongan New Economic Zone
