Supply Chain: Upstream and Midstream

Global Nickel Sulphate Supply is Dominated by China, Primarily Using Indonesian Intermediates From 2021 to 2025, the largest growth in nickel sulphate supply has come from intermediate feedstocks, including MHP and matte. Nickel sulphate supply from intermediates grew at a CAGR of 28.4% over this period, reflecting the rapid ramp-up of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and nickel matte conversion capacity, primarily in Indonesia. China has been dominating the nickel sulphate (via intermediates) supply in the world, accounting 76% in 2025. Chinese battery chemical producers, including Huayou, CNGR, and GEM, have developed integrated supply chains from intermediates through to cathode active material. Much of this capacity is located in China, based on intermediates produced from HPAL plants, oxygen-enriched side-blowing furnaces (OESBF) matte lines, and matte converted from NPI in Indonesia. From 2021 to 2025, Indonesian MHP production grew at a CAGR of 142.5%. Since 2021, when Indonesia began producing MHP and feeding it to China’s nickel sulphate production, MHP has become a key nickel feedstock for NCM/NCA pCAMs production. Its cost advantage over nickel matte, combined with its cobalt content, has made MHP a preferred feedstock in China’s battery materials supply chain. Nickel sulphate produced from recycled feedstocks (battery scrap and end-of-life [EOL] batteries) has become an increasingly important source of nickel sulphate supply, accounting for approximately 10.7% of total nickel sulphate output in 2025. Between 2021 to 2025, secondary nickel sulphate supply grew at a CAGR of 24.3%, driven primarily by China’s expanding recycling capacity, supported by the legalisation of high-quality black mass imports starting in August 2025.

Source: Project Blue

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