Nickel 101 - Part I
Jun 12, 2025
By Gaia Research Team
Reading time: 7 mins.
Nickel market faces oversupply until 2027-2028, driven by Indonesia’s production share. LME prices dropped in April 2025, recovering to ~$15,000. INSG forecasts 198,000-ton surplus in 2025. Demand grows 5-8% yearly, but supply outpaces, especially for Class II nickel (NPI, ferronickel). Class I nickel preferred for batteries; ESG concerns limit Indonesian nickel in Western EV chains. LME reforms post-2022 crisis boost stocks; SHFE challenges with globalized futures.
Nickel 101 - Part II
Jun 12, 2025
By Gaia Research Team
Reading time: 8 mins.
The 2022 LME nickel crisis led to trading suspension and reforms: 15% price limits, new oversight, and six new brands, raising stocks from 40,000 to 230,000 tons by late 2024 (+59% volume). Shanghai’s SHFE challenges LME, opening futures to foreigners in mid-2025; its SMM index sets ferronickel prices. CME, ICE, and Abaxx expand futures, while bilateral markets for Class II (ferronickel, NPI) often use Chinese prices. LME prices for pure nickel misalign with Class II, fueling LME-SHFE arbitrage. Regulatory shifts, like Russian metal bans, disrupt prices.
Greenland – Part II: Northern Lights Eldorado
May 23, 2025
By Gaia Research Team
Reading time: 24 mins.
Geologically, Greenland is extraordinarily rich and diverse – so much so that it “would be quicker to list what Greenland doesn’t have” in terms of mineral occurrences (geologyforinvestors.com). From gold and base metals to rare earth elements (REEs) and industrial minerals, deposits are found across the length of the island. However, active mineral sites (those under current exploration, development, or production) are mostly clustered in accessible coastal regions. The inland is dominated by the ice cap and high Arctic mountains, leaving only the ice-free fringe (about 400,000 km²) available for mining (eng.geus.dk).
Within this fringe, certain districts stand out: the far south of Greenland hosts world-class rare earth and precious metal deposits, while the far north above the Arctic Circle holds giant base-metal occurrences.
Several high-value metal projects in Greenland have advanced to late-stage exploration or development, promising significant future production...
Greenland – Part I: Northern Lights Eldorado
May 14, 2025
By Gaia Research Team
Reading time: 7 mins.
The rush is on… but this time it’s not only for gold.
In a global industrial shift rewired by electrification, digitization, and the green transition, demand for critical minerals has moved from background noise to a defining macro driver. Rare earths, graphite, molybdenum, cobalt, nickel, uranium; these aren’t just commodities. They’re the foundational inputs of national security, supply chain resilience, and industrial sovereignty.
In a world racing to secure access to green technologies and strategic reserves, Greenland emerges as more than a frozen outpost. Of the 34 minerals designated as "critical" by the European Commission, 25 have been identified on the island.
An Especially Brutal Week for Markets
Apr 6, 2025
By Laurent MAUREL
Reading time: 8 mins.
The primary trigger behind this correction was the announcement of sweeping new tariffs by Donald Trump.
On April 2, 2025, the former U.S. president announced a broad new round of import tariffs targeting both the European Union and several key Asian economies. This marks a sharp escalation in U.S. trade policy, with far-reaching consequences for inflation, consumer spending, and global macroeconomic stability.