19-06-2025
The World's Most Profitable Nickel Plants Face Cost Challenge
A pioneering group of Indonesian nickel smelters with the world's lowest production costs has been hit by a jump in the price of a key raw material, crimping their profitability just as the market is saddled with a glut.
The price of sulfur, a chemical used to produce acid, has more than tripled in price over the past year, driven by increased demand. That's a headache for producers in Indonesia that use high-pressure acid leaching, known as HPAL. The breakthrough technique enables the smelters to extract metal from low-grade ore with chemicals, avoiding the need for blast furnaces.
