Nickel: Powering Up
WITH nickel recently posting its best quarter in almost a decade and the recent Paydirt 2019 Australian Nickel Conference in Perth, it’s no surprise that the future of the metal has been the talk of the town. The London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel price hit $US18,620/t early last month, having opened the year at $US10,435/t. This has been partially fuelled by concerns around the impact of Indonesia’s decision to bring forward a ban on exports of raw nickel ore by two years. The ban will take effect from January 1, removing an estimated 350,000t out of the global sea trade. Another geopolitical wobble impacting prices was the Government of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), an autonomous region within…