Earlier this month, I spoke at and attended two conferences:
- Forging Industry Association Fall Meeting
- SMR North American Stainless Steel and Special Metals Conference
Key Takeaways:
- The Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) for US, Germany, China, and EU has been flat and just below 50 throughout 2025
- The US and EU are import-dependent for nickel and Indonesia’s dominance of nickel ore supply (60%+) continues to grow
- Global Nickel alloy demand is expected to grow at 3.5 to 4% through 2030 led by Aerospace, Chemical processing, and Power Generation
- AI and data center electricity demand is expected to more than double by the end of the decade, which in turn is driving demand for nickel and stainless steel material as well as forgings for power generation
- The President’s FY2026 Defense budget request includes $2.6 billion of funding to mitigate systemic supply chain risks throughout the US defense industrial base, including strategic materials, critical minerals ($430M), microelectronics, batteries, and castings and forgings ($630M, includes machine tools)
