Metals refiner Westwin Elements and commodities trader Traxys announced Monday agreements that may extend their existing feedstock and nickel offtake arrangements for up to 22 years.
If exercised for the full term, the nickel offtake component alone could represent approximately $3.96 billion in transaction value, based on current market prices.
The amended and restated agreements give Westwin a long-term pathway to secure feedstock and offtake as it expands its U.S. production, reducing commercial risk while strengthening the domestic nickel supply chain, the company said.
Westwin operates a demonstration plant in Lawton, Oklahoma, and has selected the Belwood Industrial Site in Natchez, Mississippi, for its upcoming commercial-scale class 1 nickel refinery, the first in the US.
The Natchez facility will build on experience at Westwin’s 20-tonne-per-year demonstration plant in Lawton, Oklahoma, which has completed multiple production campaigns of on-spec class 1 nickel powder using nickel carbonyl refining technology.
Building on the partnership the companies first announced in 2025, under which Traxys supplies mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) feedstock to Westwin’s planned commercial refinery and purchases refined nickel briquettes from the facility, the amended agreement provides Westwin the option to extend both arrangements for a total of up to 22 years.
“The extended framework with Traxys supports our plans to scale production, secure reliable feedstock supply and develop long-term markets for our products,” Weswin CEO KaLeigh Long said in a news release. “As we expand our U.S. refining capacity, we will continue building additional customer and supplier partnerships alongside our relationship with Traxys to strengthen America’s domestic nickel supply chain.”
“Our partnership with Westwin reflects Traxys’ continued commitment to strengthening secure U.S. supply chains for critical materials,” Traxys CEO Mark Kristoff added.
“This long- term extension provides a framework that can support additional feedstock supply and refined nickel sales. The extended tenor may also help underpin Westwin’s longer-term development and financing plans as it scales domestic nickel production.”