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INTERNATIONAL NICKEL Ni/STAT/399

STUDY GROUP 24 March 2025

ENGLISH ONLY

STATISTICS COMMITTEE
Sixty-eighth Meeting
Lisbon, Portugal
Tuesday 22 April 2025
14.30 to 17.00

STATISTICS COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAM 2025 - UPDATE

This Document provides an update on the progress of the work of the Statistics Committee
together with an outline of the proposed work program for 2025. Delegates are kindly requested
to consider the activities, and suggest new additional topics, if appropriate.

The principal task of the Statistics Committee is the enhancement of market transparency in the
world nickel markets. This is regarded as a core activity of the Study Group, a view that has been
strongly reinforced by both government and industry. The main tools for this are the publication
of the Monthly Nickel Bulletin and Yearbook, the twice-yearly publication of detailed market
forecasts, the publication of the “World Directory of Nickel Production Facilities” and other
reports on various aspects of the market.

A. Completed Activities

A1. Market Review and Forecast

The Statistics team prepared short-term forecasts and market reviews for the September 2024 and
the April 2025 Meetings.

A2. Monthly Statistical Bulletin

The World Nickel Statistics – Monthly Bulletin – was published every month from May 2024 to
April 2025 – 12 editions.

A3. Yearbook: Annual Statistical Bulletin

The 2024 edition was released in December 2024 in both pdf and Excel format. This publication
included annual data for mine production, primary nickel production, primary nickel usage,
prices, stocks, and trade data by country, covering the period from 2012 to 2023.
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A4. World Directory of Nickel Production Facilities

As previously outlined and agreed, the Group’s “World Directory of Nickel Production Facilities”
was split into two parts: I – Operating Mines, Smelters and Refineries, and II – New
Developments. Part I corresponds to the previous sections B, C and E, and Part II contains section
D (including subsections D1, D2 and D3). Section A will be made available in both parts.

“World Directory of Nickel Production Facilities 2024, Part I – Operating Mines, Smelters and
Refineries” was released in July 2024 and comprises 279 pages with: 319 contact details in 45
countries, 197 nickel mines in 30 countries, 245 nickel smelters and refineries in 32 countries, 71
closures in 11 countries and 68 flowcharts. Also includes Summary Tables for World production
and capacity, mines, smelters and refineries.

“Part II – New Developments” was released in September 2024 and comprises 189 pages with:
321 contact details, 159 committed project developments, 66 likely project developments
countries and 143 potential project developments. Also includes Summary Tables for World
production and capacity, new nickel industry developments – committed project developments,
likely project developments and potential project developments.

A5. Participation at Conferences

The Director of Market Research and Statistics participated or will participate in the following
conferences:

• Attended the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference 2024, 12-13 June 2024, held in
Jakarta, Indonesia, organized by Shanghai Metals Market.
• Keynote speech and presentation for the China International Nickel & Cobalt Industry
Conference 2024, 29-31 October 2024, held in Nanchang, China P.R., hosted by the China
Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA) and organized by Antaike.
• Presentation for the 9th APAC Stainless Steel Industry Conference 2024, 5-7 November
2024, held in Nanchang, China P.R., organized by Shanghai Metals Market (SMM).
• Attended the EV & Battery Critical Materials Conference 2025, 25-26 February 2025,
held in Frankfurt, Germany, organized by Project Blue.
• Advanced Automotive Battery Conference Europe 2025, 23-26 June, to be held in Mainz,
Germany, organized by Cambridge EnerTech.
• Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference & Expo 2025, 3-5 June, to be held in Jakarta,
Indonesia, organized by Shanghai Metals Market (SMM).

The Manager of Statistical Analysis attended the following conferences:

• 14th Advanced Automotive Battery Conference – Europe, 13-16 May, held in Strasbourg,
France, organized by Cambridge EnerTech.
• North American Stainless & Special Alloys Conference 2024, 6-8 November 2024, held
in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, organized by SMR – Steel & Metals Market Research.
• Giga Europe 2025, 18-20 March 2025, held in Brussels, Belgium, organized by
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
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A6. Articles on Nickel

Two articles were published in the “Stainless Steel World” magazine:

• “The World Nickel Market in 2024 – Slowly Diminishing Surplus”, published in August
2024 (submitted in July 2024).
• “The World Nickel Market in 2024 and 2025 – Back-to-Back Surpluses”, published in
December 2024 (submitted in November 2024)

An INSG Insight report on international stainless steel scrap trade was published in December
2024.

A7. Team Stainless Meetings

The Director of Market Research and Statistics and/or the Manager of Statistical Analysis
participated in the following Team Stainless Meetings: 2nd October 2024 and 11th December 2024.
INSG is chairing the 2025 meetings. The first was on the 30th January 2025 and the next one is
scheduled for the 17th June 2025, with other 2 possible meetings during the year.

A8. Website Development

The secretariat recently implemented a new method of distributing its publications through the
Members’ Area of the Group’s website in order to improve deliverability to all members and
subscribers and simultaneously prevent unpermitted sharing.

Preparatory work has been done to update the website’s design.

B. Ongoing Activities

B1. World Directory of Nickel Production Facilities

A new issue of the World Directory of Nickel Production Facilities is scheduled to be released in
June 2025 (Part I) and September 2025 (Part II).

B2. Twice Yearly Market Review and Forecasts

The next comprehensive short-term forecasts and market reviews will be prepared in October
2025 and in April 2026. Part of the information presented has been obtained from a questionnaire
sent to members, non-members and other informed organizations and companies. As there are
many small non-member nickel producing and using countries, a high proportion of work has to
be done by the Director of Market Research and Statistics, who has to contact many companies
to obtain sufficient information on those companies and others to be able to make appropriate
country forecasts.
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B3. Monthly Statistical Bulletin

The Study Group’s monthly Statistical Bulletin is generally recognized as providing the
foundation for most of the analytical work undertaken on nickel by companies and organizations
around the world. The Statistics Committee and the Statistics team will continue to devote a
significant amount of time and effort to the maintenance and further development of high quality
and accurate data published in this report. The bulletin will continue to be distributed through the
Members’ Area of the website.

B4. Yearbook: Annual Statistical Bulletin

Each year a Yearbook is prepared with annual data covering a period of 11 years. The 2025 edition
is scheduled to be released in November 2025. In every edition the Statistics team focuses on
extending the coverage of both nickel and scrap trade data.

The Yearbook’s sections B and C will also be published in Excel-format only, in line with the
Monthly Bulletin.

B5. Monitoring the Battery Market

The Study Group has produced or commissioned studies on nickel in batteries in 2011, 2015,
2018 and 2022. In 2018, the Monthly Bulletin and Yearbook also started to include data on
international trade in nickel sulphate (used in battery production). New projects that are part of
the nickel sulphate supply chain have been listed in the Directory of Nickel Production Facilities
(e.g. HPAL – high pressure acid leaching facilities, and others). For the meetings, the secretariat
has been inviting industry experts to cover different subjects related to the battery sector. Finally,
increasing effort has been made to improve data collection and expand the Group’s network of
contacts.

Further work will continue to list and describe nickel sulphate producers in the directory. The
necessity for additional data subscription also will be evaluated in order to fulfill the Study
Group’s requirements to estimate nickel usage (consumption) by the battery industry.

The secretariat acknowledges the growing importance of the battery industry for nickel, and has
been increasing its efforts to monitor the sector accordingly.

B6. INSG Insight Reports & Other Articles

The Statistics team also will continue to identify relevant topics for further INSG Insights and
seek suggestions from Members.

Two articles are planned to be published in the “Stainless Steel World” magazine (will be
submitted in May 2025 and in November 2025).

Additionally, an INSG Insight report on international stainless steel scrap trade will be published
in the second half of 2025 (depending on data availability).
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B7. Market and Data Coverage

INSG publications and databases are continuously following the changes in the nickel market,
with new information added when required. For example, when a country starts producing nickel,
that information is collected and published.

The latest import and export statistics of nickel, nickel scrap and stainless steel scrap from the
most important countries and regions are presented in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin, Yearbook
and Online Statistical Database.

The table below summarizes the recent additions of trade data in the Monthly Bulletin:

Bulletin Trade Data

February 2023 Exports of nickel oxide sinter from Türkiye
July 2023 Imports of nickel sulphates and ferronickel to China, P.R., Exports of nickel
sulphates from Finland (1), Imports of unwrought nickel, not alloyed from
Hungary, Imports of nickel sulphates from Poland
September 2023 Exports of nickel sulphates from Australia (1) and from the Netherlands,
Imports of nickel sulphates to Sweden
December 2023 Imports of ferro-nickel (1) and Exports of nickel oxide sinter (1) to and from
Finland
January 2024 Exports of nickel sulphates from Indonesia
March 2024 Exports of unwrought nickel, not alloyed from Indonesia
May 2024 Exports of nickel ores from Zambia
June 2024 Exports of nickel ores from the Solomon Islands
October 2024 Imports of nickel ores to Indonesia
(1) mirror statistics

B8. Data Gaps and Country Information

The Director of Market Research and Statistics and the Manager of Statistical Analysis regularly
investigate the possibility of inclusion of new data to improve the coverage of the publications.

The secretariat acknowledges a recent trend from member governments to decrease the supply of
monthly, quarterly or annually data on production, usage, trade and stocks.

The Study Group’s objectives comprise the production of monthly statistics (to be included in the
monthly bulletin and yearbook), and also annual forecasts (prepared for the two semi-annual
meetings). Monthly statistics cover nickel mine production, primary nickel production, usage
(consumption), trade and stocks, while the annual forecasts are only for the first three variables.

Data reporting from members should be in line with the objectives above and we urge all member
country representatives to work together with the secretariat in order to accomplish that, if it is
not in place yet.
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B9. Accuracy of Forecast Report

A report on the accuracy of Study Group forecasts is prepared for the Committee each year for
the Autumn Meetings and a new one will be done for the October 2025 Meetings. These reports
enable errors in the Group’s predictions to be identified and analyzed with a view to improving
the accuracy of future forecasts.

Member countries are asked to take careful note of the information contained in these assessments
and to use it to correct any inaccuracies and, in particular, repeated patterns of inaccuracy that
may occur in the forecasts for their own country.

B10. Preparation of Data on Customer Request

The Statistics team receives requests for specialized information that require a certain degree of
preparation and prices for providing such information are set accordingly. The type of information
could for example be usage data by month for the last 10 years, by country and supplied in Excel
spreadsheet format and be supplied every six months. Another example would be an HS code we
currently do not include in the Monthly Bulletin, but do obtain on a regular basis, for example
Chinese imports and exports of different nickel chemicals.

B11. Other Activities

The Director of Market Research and Statistics and the Manager of Statistical Analysis are
required to perform other activities, including the management of subscribers, website, databases,
computers, network and phones, and to assist the Secretary-General with the calculation of the
member country contributions – including simulations for potential new members.

C. Ongoing Project

C1. Nickel in Batteries

Acknowledging the growing importance of the battery sector for the nickel industry, the Study
Group produced or commissioned studies on nickel in batteries in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2020.
The last study focused more on the downstream electric vehicles industry and its impact on nickel
usage. Due to the rapid evolution of this topic, the Group will publish a new study to cover latest
developments in the use of nickel in batteries, focusing on upstream battery industry.

Objective of the report

Energy storage is a rapidly growing sector and nickel-containing batteries are playing an
important part in the evolution of the industry.

The demand for nickel in batteries has the potential to be a significant part of overall future
demand for the metal. A range of battery types use nickel in their chemistry, examples include
nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal-hydride, nickel-iron and lithium-ion. There are two potential
markets for nickel-containing batteries: vehicles (pure electric or hybrid) and stationary energy
storage systems, subdivided into home energy storage and larger scale systems incorporated into
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the electric grid.

To better understand the impact of the growth of nickel in energy storage, it was agreed by
members at the INSG’s September 2024 Meetings that a study be undertaken, using an external
contractor, to improve understanding of the current market for nickel in batteries and to make
projections regarding future demand.

Outputs

The project outputs will consist of a written report and a presentation at a meeting of the Study
Group.

Funding

It was agreed that an external consultant be engaged to undertake this work at a cost of a maximum
of 30,000 Euros.

Commissioning

The Request for Proposals was sent out to a number of private consultants in March 2025. The
project will be assigned after a detailed evaluation of the responses.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN

Delegates are invited to discuss the Update of the Work Program for the Statistics Committee for
2025, and to suggest any additions or deletions.