The top nickel producing countries list has been shaken in recent years by Indonesia’s rapid rise to the top, beating the Philippines and New Caledonia.
Demand for nickel is mounting. Stainless steel accounts for the vast majority of nickel demand, but electric vehicle (EV) batteries represent a growing application for the base metal as the shift toward a greener future gains steam.
But while nickel’s long-term outlook appears bright, it may face headwinds in the short term. Nickel prices have been trending down since breaking US$20,000 per metric ton in May 2024 as weak usage coincides with strong output from top producer Indonesia.
What other dynamics are affecting nickel supply? If you’re interested in getting exposure to the market, you should be aware of the factors at play. To get you started, here’s a look at the top nickel-producing countries.
Top nickel production by country
This list of the top nickel-producing countries breaks down operations and news affecting the world’s top nickel countries in recent years. Figures are based on the US Geological Survey 2025 Mineral Commodity Summary.
1. Indonesia
Nickel production: 2.2 million metric tons
Indonesia’s produced a whopping 2.2 million metric tons of nickel in 2024, accounting for more than 50 percent of global output. Claiming first place for production by a long shot, Indonesia is a prime example of a country wanting to get in on the exploding market for nickel. Indonesia also hosts 55 million metric tons of nickel reserves.
Indonesia’s output of the base metal has grown tremendously from its 2017 production of 345,000 metric tons. The nation is actively building out its EV battery industry, and Indonesia’s close proximity to China, the world’s current leader in EV manufacturing, makes for an ideal setup. In May 2021, the country welcomed the commissioning of its first plant to process nickel for use in EV batteries.
‘In just three years, Indonesia has signed more than a dozen deals worth more than $15 billion for battery materials and EV production with global manufacturers,’ Euronews reported in early 2023.
Major auto maker Ford (NYSE:F) announced in December 2023 that it is taking a direct stake in the proposed US$3.8 billion Pomalaa battery nickel plant, which is planned to produce 120,000 MT of nickel annually using high pressure acid leaching technology.
Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, one of the world’s largest nickel producers, has a 73.2 percent stake in the project, followed by Vale (NYSE:VALE) at 18.3 percent. Ford has agreed to an initial 8.5 percent interest, with an option to raise it to 17 percent. As of late 2024, Huayou is seeking out banks for roughly US$2.7 billion in financing.
The country’s nickel industry has seen several significant changes in 2025, with Indonesia responding to falling prices by significantly cutting its nickel mining quotas and announcing plans to introduce stricter environmental, social and governance practices in its resource industries.
2. Philippines
Nickel production: 330,000 metric tons
In 2024, the Philippines produced 330,000 metric tons of nickel. The country has been one of the top nickel-producing countries for quite some time, as well as a significant nickel ore exporter. Another country in close proximity to China, the Philippines currently has more than 30 nickel mines, including Rio Tuba, operated by Nickel Asia, one of the nation’s top nickel ore producers.
2023 was a big year for the country’s nickel mines as total production jumped from 345,000 to 413,000 MT. That surge was projected to continue as two of the Philippines’ biggest nickel producers, Nickel Asia and Global Ferronickel, were planning to invest about a combined US$2 billion to build new nickel-processing plants, Bloomberg reported.
However, many nickel miners in the Philippines were forced to reduce or halt production in 2024 as Indonesia’s production rates continue to flood the market, resulting in oversupply and declining prices, as per the US Geological Survey.
3. Russia
Nickel production: 210,000 metric tons
Russia produced 210,000 metric tons of nickel in 2024. Even though it holds the third spot on this list of the world’s top nickel producers, Russia has seen its nickel output drop from totals seen earlier this decade. In 2020, the nation’s nickel output totaled 283,000 metric tons.
Russia’s Norilsk Nickel is one of the world’s largest high-grade nickel and palladium producers. Nornickel’s flagship nickel asset is its Norilsk Division on the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia, which includes multiple mines, concentrators and metallurgical plants. It also has assets in the Kola Peninsula in Northwest Russia.
In mid-2024, the United States and the United Kingdom joined forces to place a ban on Russian nickel imports.
4. Canada
Nickel production: 190,000 metric tons
Canada’s nickel production in 2024 totaled 190,000 metric tons, up significantly from 159,000 metric tons in 2023. The country’s Sudbury Basin is the second largest supplier of nickel ore in the world, and Vale’s Sudbury operation is located there.
Another key nickel producer in Canada is Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF), which owns the Raglan mine in Québec and the Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations in Ontario. The major miner’s Sudbury site includes the Nickel Rim South mine, the Fraser mine, the Strathcona mill and the Sudbury smelter.
Canada Nickel Company (TSXV:CNC,OTCQX:CNIKF) is advancing its Crawford nickel sulfide project toward a construction decision in 2025. In February 2024, the company announced plans to develop a US$1 billion nickel processing plant in Ontario, which once complete would be North America’s largest.
In 2025, Canadian steel and aluminum has become the subject of a 25 percent tariff imposed by the US Trump administration, which he increased to 50 percent in June.
Nickel metal originating from Canada is currently exempt under the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement that replaced NAFTA in July 2020 under Trump’s first administration, but the metal’s use in stainless steel could cause a trickle-down effect. Last year, Canada was the largest exporter of nickel to the United States, accounting for 46 percent of US nickel imports. That’s compared to 11 percent from the next biggest supplier, Norway.
5. China
Nickel production: 120,000 metric tons
China’s nickel production in 2024 was 120,000 metric tons, up slightly from 117,000 metric tons in the previous year. Nickel production in the Asian nation has remained relatively consistent in recent years. In addition to being a top nickel-producing country, China is the world’s leading producer of nickel pig iron, a low-grade ferronickel used in stainless steel. Jinchuan Group, a subsidiary of Jinchuan Group International Resources (HKEX:2362), is a large nickel producer in China.
With Indonesia’s surplus weighing on the market, China’s position as a major importer of the country’s nickel and a top producer of stainless steel means that it also influences nickel price dynamics.
6. New Caledonia
Nickel production: 110,000 metric tons
In 2024, New Caledonia produced 110,000 metric tons of nickel, down more than 52 percent from its output in the previous year. The economy of this French territory just off the coast of Australia depends heavily on its nickel mining industry and the price of nickel, but recently New Caledonia’s nickel industry has been plagued by rising energy costs and sociopolitical unrest.
In February 2024, major miner Glencore made the decision to shutter its Koniambo nickel mine and put it up for sale. The company cited high operating costs and a weak nickel market.
Given these circumstances, the French government has offered a 200 million euro bailout package for New Caledonia’s nickel industry. But the move hasn’t gone as planned, with trader Trafigura deciding not to contribute to the bailout of Prony Resources Nouvelle-Caledonie and the Goro mine, in which it has a 19 percent stake.
While the Goro mine remains operational, its future is still in limbo.
7. Australia
Nickel production: 110,000 metric tons
Australia produced 110,000 metric tons of nickel in 2024, a more than 26 percent drop from its output in 2023. One top miner in the country is BHP (NYSE:BHP,ASX:BHP,LSE:BHP) through its Nickel West division.
Australia’s largest nickel mines also include First Quantum Minerals’ (TSX:FM,OTC Pink:FQVLF) Ravensthorpe and Glencore’s Murrin Murrin. Low prices have wreaked havoc on nickel mining in the country, leading to reduced or sidelined operations at six different nickel facilities in the country starting in December 2023, including Ravensthorpe.
The situation was enough to prompt the Australian government to add nickel to its critical minerals list, which allows the country’s nickel industry to receive support through the government’s AU$4 billion Critical Minerals Facility.
Australia is the source of 8 percent of US nickel imports according to US Geological Survey data. As of late-April 2025, Australian nickel is not yet the subject of US import tariffs.
8. Brazil
Nickel production: 77,000 metric tons
Brazil’s nickel production came in at 77,000 metric tons in 2024, down nearly 7 percent from the previous year as producers grappled with a weaker market.
Major nickel mining operations in the country include Atlantic Nickel’s Santa Rita nickel-copper-cobalt sulfide mine in the state of Bahia. Anglo American (LSE:AAL,OTCQX:AAUKF) is set to sell its nickel portfolio in the country, including its Barro Alto mine, to MMG (OTC Pink:MMLTF,HKEX:1208) subsidiary MMG Singapore Resources for up to US$500 million in cash.
Centaurus Metals (ASX:CTM,OTCQX:CTTZF) is advancing the Jaguar nickel project in the Carajás mineral province. The project hosts a resource of 138.2 million MT at an average grade of 0.87 percent nickel, totaling 1.2 million MT of contained nickel. Jaguar was one of three mining projects selected by the Brazilian government to receive support in obtaining environmental licenses.
9. United States
Nickel production: 8,000 metric tons
Lastly, the United States produced 8,000 metric tons of nickel in 2024, representing a more than 50 percent decline from the national output in the previous year.
The Eagle mine is the only primary nickel-mining property in the US. The asset, located on the Yellow Dog Plains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is a small, high-grade nickel-copper mine owned by Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN,OTC Pink:LUNMF). Output from the mine was exported to smelters in Canada and overseas.
Nickel is included on the US’ critical minerals list, and in September 2023, under the Defense Production Act, the US Department of Defense awarded US$20.6 million to Talon Metals (TSX:TLO,OTC Pink:TLOFF) for further exploration and mineral resource definition at its Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota.
An environmental review process is underway for the proposed Tamarack underground mine. The company plans to process ore from the mine at a proposed battery mineral processing facility in North Dakota. Talon has said it intends to initiate the permitting process for the facility in 2025.
FAQs for nickel production
How is nickel mined and processed?
How nickel is mined and processed depends upon many factors, such as the size, grade, morphology and depth of the nickel deposit that’s under consideration. While lateritic nickel deposits are generally mined from open pits via strip mining, sulfide nickel deposits are often mined using underground extraction methods.
After mining, nickel ore is processed into higher-grade concentrates through crushing and separating nickel-bearing material from other minerals using various physical and chemical processing methods. Next, the concentrates are smelted in a furnace before the final stage of refinement using pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes.
How bad is nickel mining for the environment?
Nickel mining involves serious environmental concerns, including air and water pollution, habitat destruction, community displacement, wildlife migration pattern disturbances, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon-intensive energy use. Nickel-mining companies looking to supply the EV market are feeling the pressure to lessen the environmental footprint of their operations.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.