Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE) Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
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Dear Tartisan Investors,
The recently published article below is a preamble to a more comprehensive report on the Nickel sector which will be published on March 31st. The Case for Nickel is being made ……….happy reading.
Regards,
Mark
The Case For Nickel: (Roskill Information Services)
The nickel price had another volatile year in 20‌18, averaging US$13,‌116/t compared to US$10,‌408/t in 20‌17. The price still swung wildly over the course of the year, however, rising from around US$12,‌700/t at the beginning of 20‌18 to over US$15,‌700/t by early June. From there, however, the price slumped and by the end of 20‌18, the LME nickel cash price was trading at around US$10,‌600/t. Early 20‌19 has seen a recovery and by early March, the price was trading back above US13,‌000/t.
The market was in deficit for the second year running in 20‌18, despite a 6.8% y-on-y jump in supply that came mainly from China and Indonesia. China’s output of refined nickel jumped based on an increase in nickel pig iron (NPI) production, thanks to increased availability of nickel ores from Indonesia. The supply growth from Indonesia, driven by the ramp-up of domestic NPI capacity, has been stellar: the country became the second-largest producer of refined nickel in 20‌18; three years previously, it was the tenth largest.
The growth in supply in 20‌18 was still not sufficient to offset the 6.3% y-on-y rise in demand, however. Demand from the stainless steel sector, which accounted for 70% of global primary nickel demand, continued to grow. The rise in crude stainless production in 20‌18 came mainly from China and Indonesia, two countries that rely heavily on primary nickel units rather than scrap, to produce stainless steel.
At the other end of the first-use spectrum, the battery sector only accounted for 3% of global primary nickel usage in 20‌18. The use of nickel in batteries is expected to grow particularly strongly in the next decade, thanks to the rise in electric vehicle use. Roskill estimates that by 20‌28, the battery sector will be the second-largest consumer of primary nickel.
The upshot of the second-consecutive market deficit has been a rapid drawdown in exchange stocks. Inventories of nickel on the LME and ShFE combined dropped by 189kt in 20‌18, more than the market deficit. This could indicate that some producers picked up material in order to boost their production inventory in anticipation of tighter market conditions. The scale of the drawdown, however, leads us to believe that some of this material has merely been moved by financiers away from the statistical clarity of exchange storage to the statistical darkness of off-warrant warehouses, with the aim of returning this material to the market when prices have risen further.
Tartisan will endeavour to forward you the full March 31st report – and presumably doesn’t hurt to remind all that Tartisan Nickel owns one of the premier assets in Canada in this space ! (100mm lbs Ni, 50mm lbs Cu)
Regards,
Tartisan Nickel Corp. (CSE:TN)
D. Mark Appleby
Suite1060, 44 Victoria Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 1Y2
www.tartisannickel.com
Ph: 416-804-0280
Tags: nickel, nickel demand, stocks, tsx, tsx-v