Low nickel prices are continuing to stress test the economics of various nickel projects around the world as further expansion of Indonesian nickel laterite utilization continues to keep nickel prices low. The price of LME nickel futures contracts reached $16,000/ton this week, closing in on 50% year-over-year losses from recent highs seen in December 2022. The metal’s price has been falling in parallel to other battery metals like lithium and cobalt despite its relatively low exposure to the market, its main determinant being the Chinese structural steel industry which has also seen better days as the outlook for China’s population growth becomes increasingly dire by the day. The falling price of nickel has put many nickel plants on notice as…