How Indonesia Became the Biggest Player in the Nickel Market

There's been a huge change in the market for nickel, which goes into everything from electric vehicles to steel. Indonesia has grown to absolutely dominate production and now provides more than 55% of the world's supply. A lot of that is going to China, which has partnered with Indonesia to help grow its nickel industry at a phenomenal rate. Now, there are accusations that low-grade and low-priced Indonesian nickel is flooding the global market, to the detriment of other producers. Western miners like BHP and Anglo American have been shuttering their own nickel operations, and have written them down by billions of dollars in recent years. On this episode, we speak with Michael Widmer, head of metals research at Bank of America, about the sea change that's taken place in the world's nickel market and what it says about the green energy transition, as well as the scramble for other strategically important metals. We also talk about all those bullish calls on copper, and general volatility in the metals space. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Key insights from the pod:
What is nickel? — 5:23
What is nickel used for? — 624
Where does nickel come from — 7:36
EVs and batteries and nickel demand — 9:59
Indonesia’s decision to grow its nickel industry — 11:16
Chinese nickel ore processing technology — 15:28
The supply chain of China’s EV industry — 16:29
The impact of Indonesia on the global nickel market — 19:50
Boosting non-Indonesian nickel supply — 24:01
Metals volatility and bullish copper calls — 27:53
How does copper scarcity get resolved? — 31:56
Mining and the green energy transition — 33:44
Recycling and scrap metal — 36:38
Environmental efforts and steady supply — 38:13