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Employment should surpass pre-pandemic peak next year, however, and construction seems to be picking up
Nickel prices are down and the residential market in Sudbury has cooled, but the city’s population is expected to keep growing and lower interest rates will eventually spur more housing starts, a new report predicts. “The slowing national economy and soft commodity prices foreshadow weakness in Sudbury, home of the Big Nickel,” states an economic outlook from the Conference Board of Canada.
Worries about the near-term prospects for electric cars and their nickel-consuming batteries, along with rising Indonesian supply, have “pummelled nickel prices,” the board states. “Prices peaked in March 2022 and were roughly half that in March 2024.”
By some estimates, Indonesia’s share of the global nickel market has skyrocketed from seven per cent to more than 50 per cent, the outlook notes. “Falling nickel prices have hurt the miners Vale and Glencore,” said the CBoC. “Profits are falling at both, although neither has announced layoffs.”
The firms are mulling collaboration on a Nickel Rim exploration project, however, and Vale has also reached a deal to use mining technology firm Epiroc’s “automation, electrification and digitalization tools in various underground tasks,” the board notes.
For the rest of this article: https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/low-nickel-prices-exerting-drag-on-sudbury-economy-report