LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) – BHP Group’s ambition to create a green nickel hub in Western Australia is on hold after the world’s largest listed miner announced the entire division will go on care and maintenance later this year.
The company has invested $3 billion since 2020 to turn Nickel West into a major supplier of nickel sulphate for use in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. A supply deal with Tesla Inc. was signed in 2021 for what BHP pronounced was “one of the most sustainable and lowest carbon emission” brands of nickel in the world.
Since then, low prices have trumped green credentials, a pattern seen in other battery metals, such as lithium and cobalt. Just about every Western producer will tell you metal produced to higher environmental and social standards should command a premium. The problem is right now it does not, and defining green is part of the challenge.
DIRTY NICKEL
China is the determining factor in the West’s battery metals dilemma. The country’s investment in its own EV supply chain has led to global excess production and low prices.
For the rest of this column: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/search-elusive-green-nickel-premium-2024-07-23/