Indonesia controls nickel ore supply to balance weak demand
Indonesia is managing the amount of nickel ore its miners produce in order to balance supply and demand, a government minister said.
“We need to maintain supply and demand balance,” Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, said at a media briefing in Jakarta on Friday. “If demand is low and supply is abundant, prices will fall.”
Nickel smelters in the country responsible for more than half of world production are enduring a shortage of ore due to government licensing issues, driving up the premium that must be paid to secure the raw material. That’s forced many to import record quantities from the neighboring Philippines.
Still, benchmark nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange have struggled to recover substantially from multi-year lows earlier in 2024 due to weak demand for stainless steel, the biggest market for the metal. Bulls are hoping that fresh economic stimulus from China can boost consumption.
The issues with the Indonesian permits, known as RKABs, have persisted since the start of the year. French firm Eramet, which operates one of Indonesia’s biggest nickel mines, cut its guidance for external ore sales by 29% after the government declined to license a higher amount.
On Friday, Lahadalia said that if large foreign-owned miners were granted their full sales quotas, smaller miners would struggle to sell their product.
“Most of the big ones are foreign owned, if we give them full RKAB, where can the others sell their ore?” he said. “Smelters must also buy ore from other companies that have no processing plants, like small miners.”
Comments
Projects
Latest News
Showroom
The SAIMM started as a learned society in 1894 after the invention of the cyanide process that saved the South African gold mining industry of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Developed to exceed the latest EN 15964 standards for police breathalysers proving that it will remain accurate and reliable for many years to come.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
