Future nickel price forecast are good news for the Terrafame mine and the Finnish mining industry. Terrafame broke its nickel production record in early 2017.
According to the Bloomberg database, pricing forecasts for nickel and copper, the price forecasts for these metals, which are essential for Finnish industry, show a rising trend to at least until 2020.
The management of the Terrafame mine has previously estimated that at full capacity, the mining could produce a good profit of 15 000 dollar from nickel alone.
Nevertheless the market forecasts presents another picture. Terrafames goal will not be achieved by 2020. Currently, the three-month futures price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange is about 9200 dollar per ton, and the forecast for 2020 is 13,700 dollar.
Danske Banks Chief Economist Pasi Kuoppamäki believes that China's economic growth, which is central for the raw material market, will continue to support the rise of metal prices.
- China's management recently announced new, large infrastructure plans that are so large that they are likely to bring a bit of a boost to raw materials," says Kuoppamäki.
Pekka Suomela, Executive Director of the Finnish Mining Industry Association, believes that the prospects for basic metals are positive from now on.
- Especially regarding to copper, demand seems to be stronger than supply. At present, the trend has been so pensive that I hesitate to answer when the price could start to rise again, Suomela says.
