Nickel is a high-volume workhorse metal dominated by one country: Indonesia accounts for ~60% of world mine production (2.2 of 3.7 million tonnes in 2024) via laterite ore processing into nickel pig iron (NPI) and matte. This geographic concentration has structurally oversupplied the market: LME nickel cash prices fell from $25,815/t in 2022 to $17,000/t in 2024, an estimated 21% drop in a single year. The oversupply drove production curtailments in Australia (−26%), Philippines (−20%), and New Caledonia (−52%), the last amplified by civil unrest.

The dominant end use is stainless and alloy steel (>85% of US consumption per USGS), with electroplating, catalysts, and chemicals accounting for the balance. Battery demand (nickel sulfate for EV cathodes) is the fastest-growing application but not yet separately quantified in USGS data. Indonesia's strategy — processing ore into NPI domestically rather than exporting raw laterite — has captured most of the value chain and made Indonesian export bans on raw ore the central policy lever in global nickel markets.

World reserves exceed 130 million tonnes, with 54% of resources in laterites and 35% in magmatic sulfide deposits. The US holds modest reserves (310,000 t) via three projects, and net import reliance was 48% in 2024 (nearly 100% excluding scrap). Nickel appears on the US 2022 Critical Minerals List and the EU's CRMA 2024 Strategic Raw Materials list (Annex I), reflecting its centrality to stainless steel, superalloys, and battery supply chains.