China’s nickel ore imports dropped 70% YoY in April due to COVID-19

SHANGHAI, May 21 (SMM) – China’s imports of nickel ore shrank in April as mining operations and shipments from the top supplier—the Philippines—were suspended to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China imported 1.36 million mt of nickel ore and concentrate last month, down 6% from March and 70.2% lower than the same month of 2019, according to SMM calculations based on data from China customs.

The decline from a year ago was remarkable as April usually marks the end of the wet season in the Philippines' Surigao, which holds the country's most nickel mines, and nickel ore shipments from the country recover in that month.

The Philippines has become the biggest nickel ore exporter to China, since Indonesia banned its exports of such materials from the start of this year. The Philippines accounted for more than 1.08 million mt of China’s nickel ore imports in April, up 11.6% month on month but down 54.8% year on year.

On the other hand, the grade of nickel ore imported from the Philippines this year was much lower, leading to a much larger year-on-year decline in nickel imports in the form of ore.   

Nickel ore exports from the Southeast Asian country have resumed and is expected to recover to normal in June.

New Caledonia is the second biggest nickel ore supplier to China, and its supplies rose 5.5% to 125,300 mt in April from a month ago.