With nickel prices crossing USD 100,000 mark at LME on 8 March 2022 due to fears of supply disruptions in wake of Russia Ukraine war, forcing LME to suspend trading, global stainless steel & EV industry are watching nickel price trends helplessly as they account for 60-65% & 7-8% of global nickel consumption respectively. But with paradigm shift towards green mobility, EV industry is poised to increase nickel consumption exponentially in coming years. The latest development could propel both stainless steel & EV sectors to hasten efforts to reduce dependence on nickel & offer more low nickel competitive & sustainable products to their clients.
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Nickel is Synonymous with Stainless Steel
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It is well acknowledged that chromium is the key alloying element that makes stainless steel corrosion resistant with stainless shine. More the chromium in stainless steel, greater is the corrosion resistance. These nickel free grades are known as Ferritic grades due to Ferritic structure and are ferromagnetic. Addition of Min 8% nickel stabilizes the austenitic structure at room temperature and below improves the formability, toughness and ductility of the material. Austenitic have been in use quite extensively since 1920s growing to a share of nearly 65%. The austenitic grades are non-ferromagnetic unlike other grades of stainless steel.
Nickel all along has been scarce and expensive. In 1950s, 200 series was developed with lower nickel. Manganese and Nitrogen were added to maintain austenitic structure. Chromium was also reduced for this reason and that led to lower corrosion resistance as compared to 304.
With advent of AOD, Stainless steel production became economical and this increased the usage substantially. The dual phase Duplex grades though invented in 1930s also became easy to manufacture with AOD. These grades are stronger than austenitic and higher chromium gives higher corrosion resistance.
While there are hundreds of grades of stainless steel that can be produced, most alloys will fall into one of the following categories
1. Austenitic stainless steel – The most common & expensive solution for corrosion protection with ductility
2. Ferritic Stainless Steel – These grades possess good corrosion resistance
3. Martensitic Stainless Steel – Used in a variety of mechanical engineering applications for high strength and high wear resistance
4. Duplex Stainless Steel – A combination of Austenite & Ferrite microstructure, have high strength, good toughness and very good corrosion resistance preferred for coastal & offshore applications
5. Low Nickel Stainless Steel - A variant of 200 series wherein addition of cheaper Mn & N as well as reduction of chromium as austenisers, Cu added to improve ductility and with Ni being as low as 0.2% to 4%
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Shift to Low Nickel Grades in Global Stainless Steel Industry
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Global stainless steel makers in Europe, US & Japan etc have already developed low nickel stainless steel, ferritic & dual phase Duplex grades as substitution to costly austenitic nickel bearing stainless steels. These new grades offer cost competitiveness & similar or better corrosion resistance. In fact dual phase Duplex grades offer significant saving in material through the use of thinner gauges allowed by high mechanical strength leading to further substantial cost savings as compared to high nickel austenitic stainless steel. With the latest threat to nickel supply chain, the transition is likely to hasten
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Indian Stainless Steel Industry Could Cut Dependence on Nickel
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While industrial grades used to be predominantly austenitic stainless steel, the Indian cookware and kitchenware makers, which account for almost 50-60% of stainless steel consumption in India, are heavily skewed towards low nickel non-standard stainless steel grades. In fact, India contributed to development of this grade in late 1980s when nickel prices soared.
For the industrial applications, grade substitution has been an ongoing R&D activity undertaken by European and Japanese stainless steel makers. Looking at the exorbitant price of Nickel, the time has come for Indian Industrial segment to also look at using ferritic & dual phase grades. Incidentally, with the presence of a major European stainless steel maker in India in 2006, Indian stainless steel makers have already developed competence to produce new ferritic grades for hinterland applications & dual phase stainless steel for coastal applications offering completive solutions.
With domestic capability available to manufacture new products in line with the global trends, domestic end users can aggressively go for grade substitution to replace austenitic grades in partnership with local producers so that Nickel volatility becomes irrelevant to them without losing out to corrosion resistance properties.
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Nickel in Electric Vehicle Batteries
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Nickel has long been widely used in batteries, most commonly in nickel cadmium and in the longer-lasting nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries, which came to the fore in the 1980s. The major advantage of using nickel in batteries is that it helps deliver higher energy density and greater storage capacity at a lower cost. But with expected exponential growth in electric vehicles, auto makers may enhance research to develop batteries with reduced nickel content
1. Nickel-Cadmium Battery
Used for the production of electric vehicles in the 90s, Ni-Cd batteries are now prohibited due to the toxicity of cadmium.
2. Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery
Ni-MH accumulators have seen longer success due to their absence of heavy metals. They largely dominated the hybrid vehicle market since 2000s, up until the advent of lithium-ion technology.
3. Lithium-Ion Battery
Developed in the early 90s, the lithium-ion battery has gradually established itself as the leading technology, both in the world of transportation and in the consumer electronics industry. With a long lifespan, it offers far greater energy density than all competing technologies and is not subject to memory effect. Li-on battery types include
Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (LiNiCoAlO2) — LNCA
Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) — LNMC
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) — LFP
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Transition Underway to LFP Electric Vehicle Batteries
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Tesla’s primary EV battery technology is LNCA, based on nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide chemistry. Most of the auto industry uses an LNMC, nickel-manganese-cobalt, battery chemistry. But off late, both global EV pioneer Tesla & Chinese manufacturers are transiting to Lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry rather than nickel-cobalt-aluminum for mid-range vehicles, which are much safer & efficient than current batteries. Data suggests that Chinese EV makers used 57% LFP batteries in 2021 and it appears that exponential growth in nickel consumption is hyped.
Bron: Steelguru