Nickel (Ni): Uses, Supply Chain and Market

Nickel is mined mostly from laterite and magmatic sulfide deposits, and stainless steel and nickel alloys take most of it. In 2025 Indonesia produced an estimated 2,600,000 t, 67% of world mine production (USGS world total: 3,900,000 t), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). US net import reliance for nickel in 2025 was 41%. Nickel is on all four official critical minerals lists: the US, EU, Australian and Canadian.

Which countries produce nickel?

What is nickel used for?

• Stainless and alloy steel and nickel-containing alloys: typically more than 85% of US consumption
• Electroplating: a leading use of primary nickel
• Other uses: including catalysts and chemicals

How much does nickel cost?

Is nickel a critical mineral?

Nickel is on all four official critical minerals lists: the US, EU, Australian and Canadian. Each government builds its list with its own method, so a mineral can be critical in one place and not in another.

Export controls and trade measures

• Indonesia has banned nickel ore exports since 2020 (USGS Table 4).
• Laos has banned raw mineral exports including nickel since 2024, and Tanzania bans exports of nickel ore concentrates (2017).

See the export controls tracker for dates and current status.

What are the substitutes for nickel?

USGS names substitutes for 3 applications of nickel, for example austenitic stainless steel in construction: low-nickel, duplex or ultrahigh-chromium stainless steels. Full nickel substitutes page.

Can nickel be recycled?

Most secondary nickel is the nickel content of stainless-steel scrap, and most of it is used to make new alloys and stainless steel. Nickel recovered from scrap accounted for about 60% of US apparent consumption in 2025.

What are the supply risks and recent events for nickel?

• 2025. The annual average LME nickel cash price fell an estimated 11%. The International Nickel Study Group estimated the primary nickel market surplus at 98,500 tons in 2022, 170,000 in 2023 and 182,000 in 2024, and 189,000 tons in the first nine months of 2025 against 107,000 a year earlier.
• 2025. World nickel mine production rose 5% to an estimated 3.9 million tons. Indonesia rose an estimated 13%, while Australia fell 54% as companies put mines on care and maintenance because of low prices and the Philippines fell 24%. The Philippine province of Palawan announced a 50-year ban on new mining permits that does not affect existing operations.
• April 2025. Executive Order 14285 called for the development of seabed mineral deposits; a 2022 USGS study estimated global seabed deposits contain about 4.5 billion tons of nickel.
• 2025. The Nikolai (Alaska) and NorthMet (Minnesota) projects were designated Federal Transparency Projects under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act and added to the permitting dashboard. The last US primary nickel refinery closed in 1985.

US import sources, 2021 to 2024. Primary nickel: Canada, 44%; Norway, 11%; Australia, 8%; Brazil, 7%; and other, 30%. (USGS)

Resources. Global nickel resources are estimated at more than 350 million tons of nickel, 54% of it in laterites and 35% in magmatic sulfide deposits; hydrothermal systems and seafloor crusts and nodules hold 10% and miscellaneous resources such as tailings 1%.

Which nickel projects are on official lists?

Which companies produce or process nickel?

Frequently asked questions

What is nickel used for?

Nickel is used in stainless and alloy steel and nickel-containing alloys, electroplating and other uses. Stainless and alloy steel and nickel-containing alloys: typically more than 85% of US consumption.

Which country produces the most nickel?

Indonesia produces the most nickel: an estimated 2,600,000 t, or 67% of the world total, in 2025, according to the USGS mine production figures.

Is nickel a critical mineral?

Yes. Nickel is on all four official critical minerals lists: the US, EU, Australian and Canadian. Nickel was already on the 2022 US list and stays on the final 2025 list of 60 minerals. US net import reliance for nickel in 2025 was 41%.

How much does nickel cost?

USGS reports the average 2025 price of nickel at $15,000/t (london Metal Exchange (LME), cash, annual average; -11% on 2024).

Sources

Read on October 14, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.

1. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Nickel. Production, reserves, uses, substitutes, recycling and events
2. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: introduction (Table 7 and Figures 10A and 10B). Net import reliance, leading producer and price changes for critical minerals
3. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: introduction (Table 4, export controls by country)
4. Federal Register: Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals
5. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252
6. Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Australia’s Critical Minerals List and Strategic Materials List
7. Government of Canada: Canada’s critical minerals
8. Permitting Council: current FAST-41 projects
9. Eramet: FY 2025 results presentation (19 February 2026)
10. Glencore: full year 2025 production report (29 January 2026)
11. PT Vale Indonesia: 2025 results release (16 March 2026)
12. BHP: operational review for the year ended 30 June 2026 (Form 6-K, 16 July 2026)
13. Nornickel: FY2025 production results page (28 January 2026)
14. Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt: 2025 annual report, in Chinese (8 April 2026)