Indonesia’s NPI out went up in June amid expanded production of Tsingshan

SHANGHAI, Jul 15 (SMM) - NPI output in Indonesia stood at 77,000 mt in metal content in June, up 4.34% on the month and 65.7% on the year, with accumulated output at 426,000 mt in Ni content in 2021. There are 3 new production lines in June, 2 in Qingshan XiaoK park and 1 in Delong.

Indonesia Tsingshan has put 40 NPI RKEFs into operation in Morowali as of the beginning of June. On January 30, a production line that switched from silico-manganese to NPI began to yield product. The first production line of a joint venture project by Walsin Lihwa and Tsingshan yielded product on January 31, the second production line yielded product on February 9, and the third production line yielded product in early May. DaK yield product of 40 bars. Another lines of Walsin Lihwa may be put into production in July. It is also expected that the four production lines of Haitian Nickel will also be put into operation in H2 2021.

Indonesia Tsingshan plans to expand the total number of RKEFs in the Weda bay area to 44 units, of which 12 units were put into production in 2020. 24 production lines have been commissioned. It commission 18 RKEFs in 2021 to bring the total number of production lines in operation to 30. Among them, 2 RKEFs of a joint venture by Blue Sky Nickel and Punp in Wedabay D District were put into production in January and another two RKEFs were commissioned in March. Four production lines in District E were also commissioned (1 line was commissioned in January, 1 line in February, and 2 lines in March). 2 production lines of Fengli Metals in F District were commissioned in late May; and the 2 ferronickel production lines of Qingtian Nickel Industry in F District were also put into production in mid-June and the end of June respectively. Tsingshan plans to put another 6 production lines into production before the end of the year. Power restrictions in the second phase of Xiao K Park has not been completely resolved. The production capacity of the production line in the early stage has not been fully released. It is expected that the problem may be gradually resolved in July. In addition, a production line in the first phase of the Wedabay Park implemented maintenance due to the addition of cold calcined sand, and the affected output stood at 1,500 mt.

Indonesia Delong’s Phase II project commissioned 15*33000KVA production lines in 2020, of which the 15th line yielded product in January 2021. It is estimated that there are still 20 furnaces to be commissioned in 2021. Two new production lines have been added in May, and one line in June. At present, there are 33 production lines in the first and second phases. The remaining 17 lines will be commissioned in H2.

4 sets of 33000KVA RKEFs of Jinchuan WP operated normally in May and 4 sets of 33000KVA RKEFs of Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes saw daily output of 500 mt with normal production. Two sets of BF with 80 cubic meters of Xinhualian implemented maintenance due to the high cost of coke. At present, two sets of BF with 80 cubic meters maintained production, producing medium-grade ferronickel with an average grade of about 7%; Indoferro's two 16500KVA submerged arc furnaces continued to operate at low yields; In response to the pandemic in Indonesia, two new lines originally planned to be commission at the end of June delayed until late July; PT. Cahaya Modern Metal Industri resumed production in early 2021, with a monthly output of about 2,000 mt and a grade of about 12%. PT.BTS Iron production has also resumed recently. In summary, in addition to the release of new capacity in July, the removal of power restrictions problem has also brought about an increase in the operating rates of some production lines. It is estimated that Indonesia’s ferronickel output will record 83,500 mt in metal content in July, a month-on-month increase of 8.5% and a year-on-year increase of 69.5%.