Chinese Metal Giant Is Upending the Nickel Market All Over Again
- Tsingshan started using nickel pig iron in steel alloy in 2007
- Prices rise Friday, after biggest two-day slump in a decade
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Fourteen years ago, China’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co. upended the nickel market with a cheaper way to extract the metal used to make steel stainless. They appear to be doing it once again, this time with a focus on batteries.
The company’s new way to make nickel for batteries potentially breaks down one of the biggest bottlenecks to meet surging demand, undercutting a key pillar that’s supported the market. The prospect of additional supply saw the metal cap its biggest two-day loss in a decade, and while prices edged higher Friday, they’re still near a three-month low.