By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)
August 19, 2016 09:59:58 PM
SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The latest Metals Balances Report released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that Nickel market has ended in a small deficit during Jan-June ’16. Also, Tin and Zinc market too has recorded marginal deficit during this period.
Nickel
Global nickel market ended in deficit of 80,800 tonnes in January-June 2016 with apparent demand exceeding production. The calculated full year surplus had stood at 45.2 kt during the whole year 2015, according to WBMS.
The statistics indicate that that reported stockpiles maintained by LME were 61.8 kt lower at the end of June this year from the closing levels of 2015.
Production
World Nickel mine production was 956.7 kt in January-June 2016, lower by 100.4 kt when compared with the corresponding period during previous year. The ban on exports by Indonesian administration has led to reduced mine output from the country. In addition, the local mine production from the country has been extremely weak since the beginning of 2014.
Refined Nickel production in Jan-June ’16 was 874 kt. Japan's smelter/refinery production during the initial six-month period of the year witnessed a jump of 9.3 kt compared to 2015. The total smelter/refinery production of Nickel was 153.9 kt in June 2016.
Demand
Refined Nickel consumption during Jan-June ’16 surged higher by 134 kt when matched with the previous year. Nickel smelter consumption was 175.3 kt in June this year.
The apparent demand of Nickel from Japan was marginally higher by 7.4 kt during January to June this year when matched with the previous year. The refined Nickel demand in Jan-June ’16 totaled 955 kt.
Tin
The worldwide Tin market has recorded a marginal deficit during January to June this year. There were no DLA deliveries during the six-month period, the data said.
As per WBMS data, the global Tin market recorded slight deficit of 7.2 kt during the initial six months of the year from January to June in 2016.
Global refined Tin production recorded slight increase of 12.80 kt during the six-month period. The above production figure is without taking into account re-processed LME metal. The Asian production totaled 151.9 kt during Jan-June ’16, modestly higher when matched with the production of 138.9 kt during the corresponding period last year.
The global demand for the metal has increased by 4.7% when matched with January to June in 2015. The demand totaled 188.6 kt during this period. The Chinese apparent demand saw significant uptick of 12.6% over the previous year. The Japanese consumption totaled 12.9 kt, marginally lower by 0.6 kt when compared with the demand of 13.5 kt recorded during January to June in 2015.
The reported stock of the metal rose during the initial six-month period of the year. The stock at the end of the first six months in 2016 was marginally higher by 0.4 kt when compared with Dec ’15 closing levels. The reported stocks declined by 2.6 kt during the month of June.
During the month of June alone, the global refined Tin production totaled 32.1 kt, as against the demand of 33.1 kt.
Zinc
The worldwide zinc market has recorded deficit during January to June this year. This is after recording a surplus during the entire year 2015.
As per WBMS data, the global zinc market recorded deficit of 32 kt during the initial six months of the year from January to June. It should be noted that the worldwide zinc market had reported a surplus of 167 kt during the entire year 2015.
Global refined zinc production witnessed decline of 4.8% during the initial six-month period of 2016. The Chinese production of locally refined zinc dropped marginally by nearly 0.7% when compared with 2015.
The global demand for the metal witnessed sharp decline by 92 kt when matched with January to June in 2015. The Chinese apparent demand rose considerably by 5.9% over the previous year. The Japanese demand for the metal tumbled by 8% when matched with the levels recorded during Jan-June ’15. The demand during the six -month period totaled 230 kt.
The reported stock of the metal has increased by 16,000 tonnes during the initial six months of the year. However, LME zinc stocks rose by 62,000 tonnes during the month of June and accounted for 40% of the global stock of the metal. The LME stock levels at the end of June this year were 20 kt lower when matched with end-2015 levels.
The Chinese zinc metal imports, mostly special high grade zinc increased during Jan-June ’16 to 291 kt when compared with the imports of 197 kt during the same period last year. The imports of metal by China totaled 33 kt during the month of June this year.
The zinc slab production during June ’16 totaled 1,153.7 kt and the consumption totaled 1,172.7 kt.
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