[Ferro-Alloys.com] 

Indonesia approves 152.6mn t of nickel mining quotas

Indonesia's government has approved a total of 152.62mn t nickel mining production quotas, also known as RKAB, so far this year, market participants told Argus.

"Those quotas have so many limitations such as ores for hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy, and allocation to different companies within specified regions, which limit the flow of those [approved] ores [given] logistic costs, it seems [like] those ore quotas [are] far below the demand in 2024," a source from an Indonesian nickel pig iron (NPI) producer told Argus.

Nickel ore demand in 2024 is predicted to reach 220mn t based on projected nickel output, according to data compiled by Argus.    An expected rise in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) output will drive greater low-grade nickel ore consumption in 2024, while nickel ore content used in NPI smelting gets lower, which will lead to a higher figure for nickel ore consumption in the coming years.

• [Editor:邢亚敏]