Nickel exports breach $500m

6

ZIMBABWE’S nickel exports hit an all-time high of US$533 million in September this year, up from US$394 million during the 11 months to December 2018 due to increased global demand, latest official figures show.
Data provided by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) revealed that exports of the base metal reached a 33-month high of US$95,7 million during the same month, from a low of US$26,2 million in April 2017.
The price of nickel increased from US$10 200 per tonne in January 2017 to an average of US$17 600 in September 2019.
The increase in export earnings from the base metal have also provided a cushion for the struggling economy, whose exports have been subdued in 2019, with gold exports taking a hit on account of power challenges as well as currency issues.

“Cumulative merchandise exports for 2019 up until July increased by 7,2 percent, from US$1,96 billion during the same period in 2018, to US$2,1 billion.
“This is despite a decrease in gold exports, and largely on account of nickel and tobacco,” Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said in his 2020 pre-budget paper recently.
The increase in nickel prices, which has brought up Zimbabwe’s earnings from the resource, has been driven by the increase in global demand for the base metal.
Nickel is a key component in Lithium-ion batteries, which are used in common electronic gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.
The demand for Lithium-ion batteries has also been on the increase due to the emergence of the electric vehicles.
Local nickel miner Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) said it sees the price of nickel firming from the current levels due to an anticipated increase in demand for the base metal.
“The main use of nickel at the moment is stainless steel, and the demand for steel is going to maintain or even improve slightly.
“The additional demand for nickel is going to come from the electric vehicles, where we will have batteries, which use nickel, lithium and copper,” Batirai Manhando, BNC’s managing director, told analysts recently.
“And if you look at demand and supply dynamics, demand is going to outstrip supply and the prices will go up”.
Meanwhile, Teasury says there is immense scope for value addition to minerals such as nickel to derive better earnings from the mineral resources.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw