The boss of acquisitive copper producer Metals Acquisition says the nickel market has “fundamentally shifted” and it is unlikely the world’s largest buyer, China, will pay a “green premium” for the commodity.
Even if nickel miners could fetch a green premium, it may not be enough to make nickel mined outside Indonesia attractive, said Mick McMullen, who is scouring the globe for mines to add to his portfolio.Indonesian nickel has flooded the market, crashing the price of the metal required for steel-making and batteries.
The price slump has torn through Australian miners, which produce greener nickel than Indonesia but at a higher cost, sparking cuts to jobs and production.Mr McMullen helmed the largest IPO on the ASX this financial year, dual-listing the group in February. The miner, which is also traded on the New York Stock Exchange, owns Glencore’s former copper mine in Cobar in Queensland.
Mr McMullen can acquire more mines thanks to a lending syndicate backed by foreign banks, but the economics of buying a nickel mine outside Indonesia in a tier one jurisdiction are tricky.
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