my country’s nickel sulfate market is in short supply and highly dependent on imports

Nickel sulfate, also known as nickel vitriol, has a chemical formula of NiSO4 and is an inorganic compound. Nickel sulfate appears as green-yellow or blue crystals and is soluble in water, but insoluble in ether and ethanol. Nickel sulfate is widely used and is mainly used in the pharmaceutical industry, electroplating industry, petrochemical industry, printing and dyeing industry and other fields.

The main raw materials of nickel sulfate include waste nickel, refined nickel, nickel oxide and other metal materials. Global nickel resource reserves are relatively abundant. According to statistics from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), total global nickel ore production will reach 2.70 million tons in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 10.0%. At present, global nickel resource reserves are mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia. The Philippines and India are the countries with the highest laterite nickel ore production in the world. my country’s nickel resource reserves are relatively low, accounting for less than 5.0% of the world’s total reserves. Affected by factors such as insufficient supply of raw materials and the COVID-19 epidemic, my country’s nickel sulfate production has declined. In April 2022, my country’s nickel sulfate output reached 22,000 tons, down 6.1% year-on-year.

According to the “2022-2027 China Nickel Sulfate Industry Comprehensive Market Research and Investment Analysis Report released by the Industrial Research Center, in the process In terms of exports, my country’s nickel sulfate industry as a whole is in short supply and highly dependent on imports. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, my country’s nickel sulfate imports reached 446.657 million tons in 2021; exports reached 4.482 million tons. South Korea is my country’s main importer of nickel sulfate, accounting for nearly 50% of my country’s total imports.

Nickel sulfate production processes include nickel bean dissolution process, nickel iron to high matte nickel process, sulfide ore to high matte nickel process, wet process and waste recycling process. The wet process requires first using laterite nickel ore to make nickel sulfide or nickel cobalt hydroxide, and then dissolving it to make nickel sulfate. The wet process has the advantages of safe production, sufficient raw materials, and low production cost, but it consumes a lot of energy. At present, the most widely used nickel sulfate production process is the sulfide ore to high matte nickel process. This process is relatively mature and suitable for large-scale production. However, the reserves of nickel sulfide ore are low, resulting in insufficient supply of raw materials.

New energy vehicles are the terminal market for nickel sulfate. In recent years, driven by positive factors such as national policy support and the continuous improvement of national living standards, the prosperity of my country’s new energy vehicle industry has continued to increase. Ternary lithium batteries are the most widely used power batteries for new energy vehicles, and market demand continues to grow. As the core material of ternary lithium battery cathode materials, my country’s nickel sulfate sales industry has developed rapidly. In 2021, my country’s nickel sulfate sales reached 296,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 103.6%.

Industry analysts said that nickel sulfate is widely used. With the growing demand for new energy vehicles, the future development prospects of the industry will continue to good. my country’s nickel sulfate production technology has been developed and mature, but nickel resource reserves are low, resulting in insufficient supply of nickel sulfate production capacity and high dependence on imports. This is the main challenge facing the current industry development.