Sherritt International Corp T.S

The world may need 11X as much nickel by 2030

[Contrarian333]

Some interesting stats from an energy transition interview I watched yesterday hosted by Kyle Bass.  In order to meet 2030 decarbonation goals the world will require:

20-30X more concrete and steel
11X more nickel

My conclusion.  1. No way the 2030 goals are met.  2. Both pig nickel and battery grade nickel are going to be in strong demand.

[Ernieandbert]

Contrarian, in your opinion, will pig iron be able to replace battery grade adn if so when? 

[Contrarian333]

I'd say one always has to be on the lookout for viable alternatives to the status quo but that the process of converting npi to matte involves incremental costs and environmental issues.  The attached may be of assistance in understanding this issue. https://s2.q4cdn.com/343762060/files/doc_downloads/2021/Does-Matte-Matter-Sept-2021.pdf

[Albatross]

The bigger risk would be a more cost effective alternative to using nickel in batteries. That said there will still be nickel demand growth as stainless steel demand is likely to increase in a world where durable long lived materials will be preferred and maybe even more economical as the ESG screws are incrementally tightened. 

[Albatross]

Also H2 production plants require a lot of stainless steel because the hydrogen corodes regular steel, corrosion rates depend on temperature. And we know part of the plan to decarbonize is to build a lot of hydrogen plants.