LONDON, Sep. 16 -- The world nickel market was in a 51,000-metric-ton deficit between January and July, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said Wednesday.

This compares with a smaller deficit of 7,500 tons during the first seven months of last year.

Nickel mine production was 790,000 tons, down 1.1% from the same period last year. World apparent nickel demand was 105,000 tons higher than the previous year, the WBMS said without providing a figure.