Nickel exports may climb to a record this year because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus hasn't spurred demand in the world's third-biggest user of the metal, adding to a global glut, the country's top producer said.

Exports will rise 10 percent from a year earlier to 96,000 tons, said Toru Higo, general manager of nickel sales and raw materials at Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.

The global surplus may expand to 70,000 tons, the biggest in five years, he said.