The stainless-steel metal: roughly two-thirds goes into stainless, and one country now mines most of it.
Nickel's main job is to make steel stainless and corrosion-resistant: roughly two-thirds of the world's nickel goes into stainless steel, with most of the rest in alloys, plating and, increasingly, batteries. The market splits in two. Class 1 nickel (at least 99.8% pure, such as cathode) is the LME-deliverable form, made largely from sulphide ores and used in superalloys, plating and battery chemicals. Class 2 nickel (nickel pig iron, ferronickel and other lower-grade products) is made mostly from laterite ores and goes almost entirely into stainless. Over the last decade Indonesia, using Class 2 production at scale, has reshaped the whole market.
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Designations are indicative equivalents. Always confirm the exact standard, edition and temper or form on the purchase order and the mill certificate.
Indonesia now mines about two-thirds of the world's nickel (2.6 Mt of 3.9 Mt, up 13% on 2024). Its growth has pushed the price down and forced cutbacks elsewhere: Australia's output fell from about 98,000 t to 45,000 t between 2024 and 2025, and the Philippines' fell from 354,000 t to 270,000 t. Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
USGS estimates world nickel reserves at more than 140 million tonnes, with resources above 350 million tonnes (about 54% in laterites and 35% in magmatic sulphide deposits). Indonesia holds the most reserves (62 Mt), followed by Australia (25 Mt), Brazil (16 Mt), Russia (8.3 Mt), New Caledonia (7.1 Mt), the Philippines (4.8 Mt), China (4.4 Mt) and Canada (2.2 Mt). Laterites dominate the resource base but sulphide ores are the main source of Class 1 metal, so the two supply chains are not interchangeable.
Nickel processing follows the ore. Sulphide ore is concentrated, smelted to matte and refined into Class 1 cathode by producers such as Norilsk, Vale, Glencore and Jinchuan. Laterite ore is processed two ways: rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) lines produce nickel pig iron (NPI) and ferronickel for stainless, while high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plants produce mixed hydroxide or sulphate for batteries. Indonesia's NPI capacity is largely built and operated by Chinese companies in industrial parks, which is why China's stainless industry is effectively integrated with Indonesian ore.
Most secondary nickel is recovered as stainless-steel scrap, which is remelted into new stainless, and from nickel-bearing alloy waste. USGS estimates nickel recovered from scrap was about 60% of apparent consumption in the United States in 2025. Scrap is therefore a close substitute for primary nickel in stainless melting, and scrap prices move with the nickel price and the chrome and nickel content of the grade.
India has no meaningful nickel mining and imports essentially all of its nickel, so stainless producers are exposed to both the LME price and Indonesian policy. India imported about 178,500 t of nickel pig iron and ferronickel from Indonesia in the first ten months of 2024, up roughly 143% on the same period of 2023. Indonesia's ban on raw ore exports (2020) pushed the trade toward processed products, and Jindal Stainless took a 49% stake in an Indonesian NPI smelter to secure supply. Indonesia's annual RKAB quota approvals, the same mechanism currently squeezing its coal supply, govern nickel ore output, so Indian stainless and alloy buyers have a direct stake in them.
Class 1 nickel trades against the LME cash price, which USGS reports averaged about 11% lower in 2025 than in 2024 as the market stayed in surplus (the International Nickel Study Group estimates a primary surplus of 182,000 t in 2024 and 189,000 t over the first nine months of 2025). The physical premium over LME depends on the form (cathode, briquette, powder) and the use, with battery-grade and plating-grade metal priced separately.
Class 2 products are priced per unit of contained nickel, not per tonne of product: NPI (typically about 8-14% Ni) and ferronickel (about 15-40% Ni) are quoted in dollars or yuan per nickel point, with the Chinese import price the reference. Nickel sulphate for batteries is priced off its own market. When comparing quotes, convert everything to dollars per tonne of contained nickel, and check the iron, carbon and phosphorus limits for the stainless grade you make.
For nickel, decide first whether you need Class 1 or Class 2, because they are not interchangeable. Always compare offers on contained nickel, not on product weight, and for alloys specify the exact grade and form; a Nickel 200 and a Nickel 201 plate differ in carbon and in permitted service temperature.
Talk to a SpecialistProduction and reserve figures are USGS estimates for 2025 unless stated. Figures are rounded and change with each annual revision.