Changing nickel and chromium stainless steel markets - a review

This review covers the changing fortunes of the nickel and chromium markets, which are intimately tied to stainless steel production. Over the last few decades, growth in the stainless steel market has outpaced that of the carbon steel, aluminium, copper, and zinc markets, and as a result, demand for nickel and chromium has benefited. The emergence of China as the world's largest stainless steel producer - estimated at 54% of world supply in 2017 - means the country needs increasing quantities of chrome ore: Chinese imports increased by 29% year-on-year in 2017. The dynamics of the chrome trade are heavily skewed towards South Africa and China, but how long will this continue? The sheer size of China's stainless steel industry means that it is also the largest consumer of primary nickel, thanks to the industry's reliance on primary units, mostly in nickel pig iron. We estimate that stainless steel production accounted for 68% of global primary nickel demand in 2017, but this ratio is set to decline in the years ahead as the increased electrification of automotive transport leads to higher requirements for nickel in batteries.