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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":729,"relatedVideos":730},112469291435141,"71cf441e-03c1-4cbc-a267-9a64c22cae3e","BHP Nickel West closure deals blow to Australia’s nickel industry","bhp-nickel-west-closure-deals-blow-to-australias-nickel-industry","article/bhp-nickel-west-closure-deals-blow-to-australias-nickel-industry",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":559,"content":569,"excerpt":706,"featured":51,"reporter":707,"_editable":711,"component":712,"seo_title":543,"categories":713,"visibility":722,"author_company":49,"featured_image":723,"seo_description":706,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":727,"formattedArticleDate":728},"2d4c5357-c2e0-4457-92e8-f7da59452425","2024-07-12 00:00",[550,553,556],{"slug":551,"name":552},"australia","Australia",{"slug":554,"name":555},"bhp","BHP",{"slug":557,"name":558},"indonesia","Indonesia",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562,"content":563},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":564,"image":565,"bio":567,"linkedin":568},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":566},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":570,"content":571},"doc",[572,579,584,597,610,619,626,631,636,647,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,687],{"type":573,"attrs":574,"content":575},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":578},"BHP has announced it will close its flagship Nickel West operation in Western Australia later this year, blaming an oversupply of nickel resulting from the ramp up of low-cost supply originating from Indonesia.","text",{"type":573,"attrs":580,"content":581},{"textAlign":49},[582],{"text":583,"type":578},"“Like others in the Australian nickel sector, we have not been able to overcome the substantial economic challenges driven by a global oversupply of nickel,” said Geraldine Slattery, BHP’s Australia president, in announcing the closure.",{"type":573,"attrs":585,"content":586},{"textAlign":49},[587,595],{"text":588,"type":578,"marks":589},"The Australian nickel industry has seen several of its key assets suspended",[590],{"type":591,"attrs":592},"link",{"href":593,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":594},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/struggling-nickel-miners-press-for-alternative-pricing-mechanisms","url",{"text":596,"type":578}," since the end of last year: closures driven by a challenging market environment, marked by persistently low nickel prices. Aside from Indonesian supply ramp-up, prices have also suffered from a slowdown in demand growth for nickel-containing batteries.",{"type":573,"attrs":598,"content":599},{"textAlign":49},[600,602,608],{"text":601,"type":578},"Nickel West is the largest nickel mine complex in Australia, accounting for around 35% of Australia’s nickel mined supply. The closure will see Australia’s nickel production in 2025 fall to just half of 2022 output, ",{"text":603,"type":578,"marks":604},"according to the Benchmark Nickel Forecast",[605],{"type":591,"attrs":606},{"href":607,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":594},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/nickel/reports/",{"text":609,"type":578},".",{"type":573,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"type":614,"attrs":615},"image",{"id":49,"alt":616,"src":617,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":618},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7918e17d41/bm-image-65.png",{},{"type":620,"attrs":621,"content":623},"heading",{"level":622,"textAlign":49},4,[624],{"text":625,"type":578},"What are BHP’s plans for Nickel West?",{"type":620,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"level":622,"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":578},"Indonesia squeezes Western producers out of the market",{"type":573,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":578},"Indonesia is projected to add an estimated 300,000 tonnes of new nickel supply to the market in 2024, resulting in a supply surplus of over 100,000 tonnes. ",{"type":573,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639,645],{"text":640,"type":578,"marks":641},"Benchmark CIF Asia nickel sulphate prices have subsequently fallen by over 17% year-on-year",[642],{"type":591,"attrs":643},{"href":644,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":594},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/price-assessments/nickel/portal/?tab=table",{"text":646,"type":578},", trading at under $18,000/tonne (nickel contained basis) – a downturn that has  squeezed margins for higher-cost operations in the West.  ",{"type":573,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":578},"Australian nickel miners suffer from higher capex, labour and energy costs than their Indonesian counterparts, making it harder for them to compete within the current price environment. Indonesian operations have also benefited from access to cheap capital from China and Indonesia’s tax holiday.",{"type":573,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":578},"Benchmark forecasts the nickel market surplus to sustain until 2028, depressing nickel exchange prices below $20,000/tonne (real basis) throughout this period. BHP noted in its announcement that forward consensus nickel prices over the next five years had “fallen sharply” due to the strength of Indonesian nickel supply growth.",{"type":573,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":578},"Not only will BHP’s closure serve to further consolidate Indonesia’s dominance over global nickel supply, it also reduces the pool of available Inflation Reduction Act compliant nickel by 15% from 2025 – creating additional supply headaches for the US battery supply chain. ",{"type":573,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":578},"Jorge Uzcategui, senior nickel analyst at Benchmark, remarked that the suspension of Nickel West would also have wider global implications: “As well as being a leading supplier of ex-China nickel sulphate, BHP is one of the main suppliers of nickel metal to the LME.”",{"type":573,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":578},"He noted that in the coming years, with Australia and Russia unable to maintain deliveries to the exchange, each of which contribute around 35% of nickel deliveries to the LME, its warehouses will predominantly contain nickel of Chinese and Indonesian origin. ",{"type":620,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"level":622,"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":578},"Nickel West closure underscores need for new price points",{"type":573,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":578},"Despite bullish medium-to-long term demand projections from the electric vehicle industry, within the nickel market’s current structure Western producers are set to endure a prolonged price downcycle due to the glut of low-cost, but often carbon intensive nickel supply originating from Indonesia. ",{"type":573,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":578},"These dynamics are creating pressure for price points that not only better reflect trade flows in the lithium ion battery supply chain, but also the improved sustainability credentials of nickel production in the West.",{"type":573,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690,692,698,700],{"text":691,"type":578},"To provide clarity to the industry, Benchmark introduced two price points: ",{"text":693,"type":578,"marks":694},"EXW Europe Sustainable Nickel Metal and CIF Asia Sustainable Nickel Sulphate",[695],{"type":591,"attrs":696},{"href":697,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":594},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/benchmark-launches-sustainable-nickel-prices",{"text":699,"type":578},". These prices only account for transactions involving material from producers deemed ‘Industry Leading’ according to the ",{"text":701,"type":578,"marks":702},"Benchmark Nickel Sustainability Index.",[703],{"type":591,"attrs":704},{"href":705,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":594},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/how-should-the-nickel-industry-define-sustainability","BHP has announced it will close its flagship Nickel West operation in Western Australia later this year, blaming an oversupply of nickel resulting from the ramp up of low-cost supply originating from Indonesia. “Like others in the Australian nickel sector, we have not been able to overcome the substantial economic challenges driven by a global […]",[708],{"slug":561,"name":562,"content":709},{"job_title":564,"image":710,"bio":567,"linkedin":568},{"filename":566},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"2d4c5357-c2e0-4457-92e8-f7da59452425\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[714,717,719],{"slug":715,"name":716},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":718,"name":150},"nickel",{"slug":720,"name":721},"sustainability","Sustainability","private",{"id":49,"alt":616,"name":616,"focus":616,"title":616,"source":616,"filename":724,"copyright":616,"fieldtype":725,"meta_data":726,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/1cb8bc0fc6/bm-bhp-sign-132092108e69.jpg","asset",{"alt":616,"title":616,"source":616,"copyright":616},"Jul 12, 2024","12th July 2024",[],[],1782229504213]