Global nickel prices may have hit a floor, according to a Macquarie analyst who sees a market recovery driven by strong demand from the steel sector and as a surplus of ore supplies shrinks after Indonesia slowed production permits.

New Caledonia’s nickel processing industry remains at a virtual standstill after weeks of unrest in the southern Pacific territory, with Eramet-owned SLN keeping its smelter at minimum capacity and Prony Resources halting its plant.

China’s Tsingshan, the world’s biggest nickel producer, is planning to register 50,000 metric tons capacity of nickel cathode on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in the second half of 2024, a company official said on Wednesday.

Nornickel’s flagship enterprise is undergoing a large-scale reconstruction of its pyrometallurgical production, which will significantly improve the reliability of the technological process.

The Indonesian government is conducting a comprehensive evaluation regarding the termination of permits for the RKEF smelters which make products in the form of ferronickel and nickel pig iron, a mining ministry official said on Tuesday.

Premium Nickel Resources (TSXV: PNRL) has upsized its non-brokered equity financing to C$27.5 million ($20m) to be spent at its projects in Botswana. The financing was originally announced on June 5 for C$15 million ($10.9m).

Indonesia has issued an annual nickel ore output quota of around 240 million metric tons for the next three years, its Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif said on Friday.

PT Shuoshi Indonesia Investment, a company based in Morowali Regency, successfully completed its first export of ferronickel to Zhapu, China.