World nickel demand seen to rise 2% in 2001

Nickel demand in the world, (excluding Russia), was forecast to rise 2% this year, despite economic slowdowns in major industrialized countries, a Canadian miner said.

Scott M. Hand, the chief commissioner of PT Inco Indonesia, a unit of Canadian miner Inco Ltd. with an operational area in South Sulawesi, said the nickel market had been boosted by growing demand from China over the past year.

Hand said the world's production of stainless steel rose 8% last year, boosting demand for nickel matte by 6%.

Two-thirds of the world's demand for nickel came from the stainless steel industry.

Asian economies would grow 7% this year on average.

The prices of nickel matte last year averaged US$6.74 per kg, up from US$4.59 in 1999.

He said his company planned to raise its own production of nickel matte to 145 million pounds, up from 130.5 million pounds last year.(*)