Whether to exit Ni.He appears to think that BHP (Ni West)...

Whether to exit Ni.

He appears to think that BHP (Ni West) exiting, and thus removing ~80kt pa from the global supply chain will be enough to neutralise the rise and rise of Indo output and, by extension, result in upward pressure to Ni prices. I don't believe it will.

I do agree that come Aug I think Mike Henry and the BHP Board will finally cut the cord as far as Ni goes. It's now 17 years since the last secular peak and during that intervening period they've run a very large net deficit on the Ni business unit. They know they need to invest an easy $500m upgrading the Kal smelter, not to mention the dramas (and cost) getting the Ni sulphate plant in Kwinana to work properly. With such a marginal strategic outlook, I think the end for BHP Ni is nigh.