[3.18 Morning Meeting Summary]
Supply side, domestically, as the Philippines approaches the end of the rainy season, it will still take time for nickel ore supply to increase significantly. Nickel ore prices remain stable, and the weak production drive for smelters keeps production at low levels. In Indonesia, recent abundant rainfall, combined with tight nickel ore supply, has resulted in low nickel ore inventory levels at smelters. Despite the release of new capacity, production has only seen a slight increase.
Demand side, stainless steel futures orders are relatively strong. Additionally, as stainless steel scrap prices rise along with finished product prices, the economic advantage of stainless steel scrap has weakened. Stainless steel mills have shown improved sentiment toward purchasing high-grade NPI, and market inquiries have become more active.
