Australia's opportunities and challenges in Nickel
REPORT

Australia's opportunities and challenges in Nickel

clock

08.02.2024 - 12:59

ClimateEnergy transition

Our new report ‘A Critical Juncture’, commissioned by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia, explores Australia's opportunities and challenges in nickel. Our report finds we have inherent advantages as Australia is well placed to capture growing opportunities in nickel with a 9% annual growth forecast. Australia holds 18% of global reserves, which we can refine with significantly less emissions than our competitors. However, growing supply from cheaper Indonesian nickel producers that are more cost-competitive has led to lower prices, which has already seen the closure of a third of Australia’s nickel production. This puts approximately 10,000 jobs, $1.8 billion of economic activity, and Australia’s future battery industry at risk.

Australian nickel has significant opportunities, however strong headwinds are placing its future viability at risk.

portableText image


The energy transition offers significant opportunities for Western Australia’s resources industry and minerals exports such as nickel.

As the world accelerates efforts aimed at electrification and moves away from fossil fuels, Western Australia and Australia will need to capture growing opportunities in battery minerals, such as nickel, lithium, and cobalt. Battery demand is expected to increase by 24 per cent annually over the coming decade, driving the need for battery minerals.

Australia, and Western Australia in particular, is positioned to play an important role in the global battery value chain. Australia holds 18 per cent of global nickel reserves while also having (1) strong ESG practices and (2) global policy tailwinds.

portableText image

However, the Australian nickel industry is facing strong headwinds, and its future viability is at risk.

Recent drops in nickel price (down 51 per cent since 2022) and growing cost pressures in Australia have led to five Western Australian nickel producers, constituting a third of annual domestic production, announcing closures, with many other producers at risk.

portableText image

The nickel industry is strategically vital in supporting Australia’s sovereign capability, economic resilience, and resource security. The decline of the nickel industry puts at risk nearly 10,000 jobs, $1.8 billion of economic activity, and Australia’s future battery industry.

Download the full report here.

Read our latest posts

Unlocking Australia's R&D potential
TechnologyWorkforceEconomicsInnovationProductivityR&D

Unlocking Australia's R&D potential

Our research in collaboration with Atlassian, the BCA and Cochlear sets out a path forward for Australia to realise its R&D potential. Australia’s productivity growth is at a 60-year low, driven in part by declining business investment in R&D. Our latest report highlights the critical role large businesses play in Australia’s innovation ecosystem and the urgent need for policy reform. Despite strong talent and institutions, Australia underperforms global peers due to high costs and uncompetitive incentives. The report outlines six targeted reforms - including simplified R&D tax incentives and a commercialisation premium - that could together generate $7.7 billion in annual economic output and lift productivity by 0.1%, with a fiscally neutral impact. With the Strategic Examination of R&D underway, this is a pivotal opportunity to restore Australia’s innovation edge.

28 Jul, 2025

Digital platforms and competition in Australia
CompetitionTechnology

Digital platforms and competition in Australia

Our latest research in collaboration with Apple examines proposals to introduce an ex ante competition framework for digital platforms in Australia by assessing digital platform regulations in international jurisdictions. We find that jurisdictions that have implemented ex ante regimes have experienced implementation challenges, with consequences for users and the economy. This study highlights that the need for regulatory regimes to preserve the benefits delivered by platforms while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to rapidly evolving technologies.

24 Jul, 2025

Climate Risk Index for the European Energy Sector
ClimateEnergy transition

Climate Risk Index for the European Energy Sector

Mandala Partners in partnership with Zurich Resilience Solutions has produced Europe's first comprehensive Climate Risk Index for renewable energy infrastructure across five major European markets. This groundbreaking analysis reveals the scale of climate vulnerability facing Europe's clean energy transition and provides actionable insights for building resilience across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Nearly half of Europe's renewable generation capacity is in critical climate risk categories, threatening the foundation of the continent's energy security and economic stability.

16 Jul, 2025

Shock Resistant
Workforce

Shock Resistant

Shock Resistant outlines novel insights into the ways that platform workers in the US used platform work as a strategy for mitigating the impacts of the pandemic and cost of living crisis.

2 Jul, 2025

Loading...