Nickel facts

Nickel and its compounds are essential in manufacturing countless products we rely on in our daily lives. Reflecting this wide variety of uses, Canada's nickel and nickel-related products are exported to more than 100 countries.

Learn more about nickel

Uses

Stainless steel is the largest end use for nickel, accounting for over two-thirds of total consumption. Nickel is also used as an alloying agent in the manufacture of both metal products that contain iron and those that do not.

It is also used in electroplating, in which a thin layer of nickel is coated onto a metal object as a decorative feature or to provide resistance to corrosion and wear.

While nickel is well known as a component in the manufacture of nickel-cadmium batteries, an important evolving use is in production of lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Nickel, global uses, 2021

Text version

This donut chart shows the major industrial uses of nickel as of 2021. The largest use was for stainless steel (68%), followed by batteries (11%), non-ferrous alloys (7%) electroplating (6%) and miscellaneous products and uses including foundry and alloy steel (8%).

Production

In 2021, Canada produced an estimated 133,581 tonnes of nickel in concentrate. This represents an 16% decrease in nickel mine production from 158,138 tonnes in 2020, attributed to a labour disruption in Sudbury, Ontario, and mining delays in Labrador. Ontario produced 36% of Canada’s mined nickel, and Newfoundland and Labrador produced 22%, with the rest from Quebec and Manitoba.

In 2020, Canada produced 124,000 tonnes of refined nickel at three refineries in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta; Sudbury, Ontario; and Long Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador. While most of the monthly 2021 production data are suppressed by the source for confidentiality purposes, a decline for the available data for September through December points to an anticipated decline in production for 2021.

An Ontario company plans on commissioning a cobalt and nickel sulfate production plant and a lithium-ion battery recycling plant by 2023.

Consult a map of producing Canadian mines

Canadian mine production of nickel, 2012–2021 (p)

Text version

This bar graph shows Canada's annual mine production of nickel from 2012 to 2021. Canada mined 203,920 tonnes of nickel in 2012. Production fluctuated around 200,000 tonnes and reached a peak of 230,210 tonnes in 2016. Production then decreased to 177,867 tonnes in 2018 before increasing to 193,057 tonnes in 2019 and decreasing to 133,581 tonnes in 2021.

Canadian refined production of nickel, 2012–2021 (e, p)

Text version

This bar graph shows Canada's refined production of nickel from 2012 to 2021. Canada refined 146,850 tonnes of nickel in 2012, generally increasing to 158,299 tonnes in 2016, declining thereafter to an estimated 102,040 tonnes in 2021. The 2021 production was estimated based on historical data for January to August that was adjusted by using the year-over-year variation for the available monthly data for September to December.

International context

Global mine production of nickel in 2021 was estimated at 2.8 million tonnes, which is an increase of 10% from 2020. Indonesia was the largest producer at 1.0 million tonnes, or 37% of global mined production. Canada ranked sixth, producing 5% of the global total.

World mine production of nickel, 2012–2021 (p)

Text version

This bar graph shows the world's annual mined production of nickel from 2012 to 2021. Production increased from 2.2 million tonnes in 2012 to a peak of 2.6 million tonnes in 2013. The decrease to 2.1 million tonnes by 2016 was followed by a recovery to 2.6 million tonnes in 2019, a small decrease to 2.5 million tonnes in 2020, and another recovery to 2.8 million tonnes in 2021.

World reserves

In 2021, total world nickel reserves were estimated to be greater than 95 million tonnes by the U.S. Geological Survey. The largest known reserves are in Indonesia (22%), Australia (22%), and Brazil (17%). Canada has an estimated 2 million tonnes of nickel reserves, representing 2% of the world reserves, and ranking seventh globally.

In 2021, nickel resources globally were estimated at more than 300 million tonnes, with 60% in laterite deposits and 40% in magmatic sulphide deposits. Nickel has also been found in seafloor crusts and nodules.

World reserves of nickel, by country, 2021 (p)

Text version

This bar graph shows the estimated world reserves of nickel by country in millions of tonnes in 2021. Indonesia had the largest tonnage (21.0 million tonnes), the same as Australia (21.0 million tonnes), followed by Brazil (16.0 million tonnes), Russia (7.5 million tonnes), the Philippines (4.8 million tonnes), China (2.8 million tonnes), Canada (2.0 million tonnes), the United States (0.1 million tonnes) and other countries (20.0 million tonnes). Other countries include well-known nickel producers New Caledonia (France) and Cuba (where no current nickel reserve data is available).

Trade

Canada's total trade in nickel and nickel-based products in 2021 was valued at $5.6 billion. Exports of nickel and nickel-based products were valued at $4.7 billion, and imports were valued at $927.0 million.

Canada exported 99,006 tonnes of unwrought nickel valued at $2.3 billion in 2021. The United States imported 43% of these exports by volume, while 13% was destined for China. A further 10% went to the Netherlands, 9% went to Belgium and the remainder was shipped to 20 other countries.

Prices

The price of nickel per tonne has fluctuated over the last decade. The average monthly price per tonne peaked at US$20,394 in February 2012, declined to US$15,032 in 2013. The price recovered in 2014 to US$16,893 before again decreasing in 2015 and 2016 to US$ 9,595. The price rose for the next three years to reach US$13,914 in 2019 before decreasing slightly in 2020 to US$13,787. Then the price rose to US$18,465 in 2021.

Prices for nickel have historically been linked with stainless steel demand, but the increasing use in batteries has increased demand and prices since 2017. In 2020, the demand decreased because of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and lead to lower prices in the first half of 2020 and part of 2021.

Nickel, monthly average nominal US$ per tonne prices, 2012–2021

Text version

This line graph shows the nominal monthly average price in US dollars per tonne of nickel from 2012 to 2021. The price of nickel averaged $17,584 per tonne in 2012, decreased steadily to $9,595 per tonne in 2016. The average price then increased to $13,914 per tonne in 2019 before increasing dramatically to $18,465 per tonne in 2021. The lowest monthly price in 2021 was $16,407 per tonne in March, while the highest was $20,016 per tonne in December.