Nickel is a yellowish silvery white ductile metal and a magnetic transition metal. On a global scale, the major nickel miners are Russia, Canada, Australia, Cuba, New Caledonia and Indonesia. Nickel is not only the basic material for making nickel alloy, but also the alloying element in other alloys (iron, copper, aluminum and other alloys). At present, nickel and its alloys are used for special-purpose parts, instrument manufacturing, machine manufacturing, rocket technical equipment, atomic reactors, alkaline batteries, porous filters, catalysts, anti-corrosion coatings on parts and semi-finished products, etc. Nickel is regarded as an important strategic material, and its resources have always been valued by all countries.
The application of nickel is determined by its corrosion resistance. Adding nickel to the alloy can enhance the corrosion resistance of nickel. The field of stainless steel and alloy production is the largest application field of nickel. The purpose of adding nickel to the alloy: Monel's high-strength corrosion-resistant nickel-copper-manganese-iron alloy (Ni, Cu, Fe, Mn) is widely used in chemical equipment, shipbuilding and other fields, and is also used to manufacture sedimentation tanks and covers; About two-thirds of nickel in the world is used to produce stainless steel, so the influence of stainless steel industry on nickel consumption ranks as 1. At present, among the non-ferrous metals in the world, the consumption of nickel is second only to copper, aluminum, lead and zinc, ranking fifth among non-ferrous metals.
In 2005, China produced 95,300 tons of nickel, an increase of 26.29% over the previous year. In 2005, the metal content of nickel ore in China was 59,900 tons, down 5.39% from the previous year. In 2006, the cumulative output of nickel concentrate1-August was 4.65 tons, up by 14.69% year-on-year. 1-The cumulative output of electrolytic nickel in August was 63,300 tons, down 3. 1% year-on-year. China's nickel import and export deficit continues to widen. In 2005, the import of nickel products in China continued to increase. In the same period, the export value of nickel was US$ 264 million, a year-on-year increase of 65,438+09.9%. In 2005, the foreign trade deficit of nickel products was $2 billion; It can be seen that the supply capacity of nickel ore in China continued to decline in 2006, and nickel smelters continued to undertake high-priced nickel ore in order to ensure the output. In 2005, LME nickel price generally hovered at a high level. The annual average spot price 14738 USD/ton, and the three-month futures price 14553 USD/ton. The average annual price of LME nickel reached a new high since 1980. The annual highest price 16875 USD/ton, and the lowest price 1 1450 USD/ton. The nickel price in the domestic market is the highest155,000 yuan/ton, and the lowest1150,000 yuan/ton.
The trend of nickel price in international and domestic markets is basically the same. Judging from the recent international nickel price in 2006, the nickel price has reached a new high of $365,438+$0.500 per ton, while the price at the beginning of 2006 was about $65,438+$0.500 per ton, and the market performance was very eye-catching.
Nickel is a scarce resource in the world, and only a few countries in the world have relatively rich nickel resources. China is a country with a shortage of nickel and chromium resources, and there are few stainless steel wastes. The serious shortage of nickel resources has become the bottleneck of the development of stainless steel industry in China. Due to the sharp increase in demand, China's dependence on imported nickel has obviously increased. In 200 1 year, the proportion of imports in consumption was 44.6 1%, which increased to 53.33% in 2004 and reached 60% in 2005. More than 70% of global nickel demand growth in the future will come from China. Due to the increase of stainless steel production in China, the international nickel price will continue to rise in 2007-2008 due to the shortage of supply, and the supply will be very tight at least in the next two years.