The DX-zwdx brand is produced by a plant of Indonesia’s PT CNGR Ding Xing New Energy. 

Following the approval, the brand can be listed against the London Metal Exchange’s (LME) primary nickel contract with immediate effect. CNGR Ding Xing New Energy is a joint venture between Chinese battery materials producer CNGR Advanced Material and Indonesia’s Rigqueza International and has the capacity to produce 50ktpy of electrodeposited nickel in Morowali, Indonesia. The plant produced its first material last August. 

The DX-zedx brand is the sixth to be listed under the LME’s fast-track approval process as part of the exchange’s plan to boost nickel trade volumes following the well-publicised difficulties it faced in 2022. CNGR has followed other Chinese companies Huayou and GEM to list its products as these producers look to take advantage of higher refined nickel prices on the LME. Nickel pig iron (NPI) and nickel sulphate have traded at significant discounts to LME prices since early 2022 and a glut of intermediates from Indonesia, suitable for refining to LME deliverable products, has helped to boost inventory levels from the record lows of 2023. Significantly, Chinese material now accounts for 16% of the total nickel sitting in LME warehouses.  

For Indonesia, this is a significant moment, given that all the nickel that it has so far produced is not currently deliverable on the major exchanges. However, as we have discussed before, risks remain over the ability of the producers of these newly listed products to consistently match the strict quality criteria demanded by sectors consuming the highest purity material (superalloys, plating etc).