From the perspective of supply and demand balance, China's nickel metal still has a supply gap of at least 70,000 to 80,000 tons in 2019 (actual data may be around 170,000 tons). Based on an average of 75,000 tons of new demand, the stainless steel industry contributes about 65,000 tons of new demand, and other industries contribute about 10,000 tons of new demand.

It can be seen from this that China should strengthen the recycling and utilization of nickel metal resources, recycle all scraps from the production and processing of stainless steel, and classify and recycle waste stainless steel products. The harmless disposal of waste residue and waste acid in stainless steel production will be highly concerned. The green manufacturing of the stainless steel industry will become an effective way to reuse nickel metal resources, which can effectively reduce the degree of dependence on nickel.

In addition, China's high-nickel ternary material installed capacity has increased significantly, which shows that the trend of high nickel for ternary power batteries is irreversible. The strong demand for China's ternary battery materials will become the main driving force for China's new nickel demand after 2020. With the oversupply of stainless steel production capacity in China, the contribution of stainless steel to the new demand for nickel will gradually decrease.