Nickel

Nickel is a vital element in stainless steel production and its use as a battery material is leading to growing demand.

Nickel

Nickel is most-commonly used as an alloying element in stainless steel. It has also long been used in batteries, and its use in newer battery types is expected to stimulate increased demand. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer, and alongside China the most important refining hub for nickel.

Main uses and applications

More than two–thirds of global nickel production is used to produce stainless steel. As an alloying element, nickel enhances its important properties such as formability, weldability and ductility, while increasing corrosion resistance in certain applications. Nickel is often used as an ”undercoat“ for other coatings, such as chromium.

Nickel has long been widely used in batteries, most commonly in nickel cadmium (NiCd) and in the longer-lasting nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries. Two of the most commonly used types of batteries, nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), typically use 80% and 33% nickel respectively. Most lithium-ion batteries now rely on nickel, where refined and alloyed nickel results in higher efficiency and enhanced performance through greater energy density for the batteries.i The ratio of nickel used in EV  batteries is anticipated to increase over the long-term, with projections showing EV and other storage demand to constitute over 50% of nickel uses by 2040.ii iii