By Paul Ploumis
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-Aug ’16. Tin and Zinc markets too have recorded marginal deficits during this period.
Nickel
Global nickel market ended in deficit of 75,100 tonnes in January-August 2016 with apparent demand exceeding production. The calculated full year surplus had stood at 46.2 kt during the whole year 2015, according to WBMS.
The statistics indicate that that reported stockpiles maintained by LME were 72.2 kt lower at the end of August this year from the closing levels of 2015.
Production
World Nickel mine production was 1,355.8 kt in January-August 2016, lower by 75.1 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 continued to remain extremely weak ever since the beginning of 2014.
Refined Nickel production in Jan-August ’16 was 1,183 kt. The Chinese smelter/refinery production during the initial eight-month period of the year witnessed decline of 40.6 kt compared to 2015. The total smelter/refinery production of Nickel was 152.9 kt in August 2016.
Demand
Refined Nickel consumption during Jan-August ’16 surged higher by 106 kt when matched with the previous year. Nickel smelter consumption was 152.8 kt in August this year.
The refined Nickel demand in Jan-August ’16 totaled 1,258 kt.
Tin
The worldwide Tin market has recorded a marginal deficit during January to August this year. There were no DLA deliveries during the eight-month period, the data said.
As per WBMS data, the global Tin market recorded slight deficit of 20.5 kt during the initial eight months of the year from January to August in 2016.
Global refined Tin production recorded slight increase of 2.30 kt during the eight-month period. The above production figure is without taking into account re-processed LME metal. The Asian production totaled 185.3 kt during Jan-August ’16, modestly higher when matched with the production of 185.0 kt during the corresponding period last year.
The global demand for the metal has increased by 3.3% when matched with January to August in 2015. The demand totaled 254.4 kt during this period. The Chinese apparent demand saw significant uptick of 7.7% over the previous year. The Japanese consumption totaled 17.6 kt, marginally lower by 0.2 kt when compared with the demand of 17.8 kt recorded during January to August in 2015.
The reported stock of the metal declined during the initial eight-month period of the year. The stock at the end of the first eight months in 2016 was marginally lower by 3.6 kt when compared with Dec ’15 closing levels. The reported stocks fell by nearly 2.3 kt during the month of August.
During the month of August alone, the global refined Tin production totaled 28.8 kt, as against the demand of 31.1 kt.
Zinc
The worldwide zinc market has recorded deficit during January to August this year. This is after recording a surplus during the entire year 2015.
As per WBMS data, the global zinc market recorded marginal deficit of 29 kt during the initial eight months of the year from January to August. It should be noted that the worldwide zinc market had reported a surplus of 100 kt during the entire year 2015.
Global refined zinc production witnessed decline of 2.3% during the initial eight-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 jump of 4 kt when matched with January to August in 2015. The Chinese apparent demand totaled 4,351 kt and accounted for over 48% of the global total. The Japanese demand for the metal tumbled by 9% when matched with the levels recorded during Jan-August ’15. The demand during the eight -month period totaled 297 kt.
The reported stock of the metal has declined by 25,000 tonnes during the initial eight months of the year. Also, LME zinc stocks rose by 19,900 tonnes during the month of August and accounted for 43% of the global stock of the metal. The LME stock levels at the end of August this year were 11.6 kt lower when matched with end-2015 levels.
The Chinese zinc metal imports, mostly special high grade zinc increased during Jan-August ’16 to 334 kt when compared with the imports during the same period last year. The imports of metal by China increased marginally to 25 kt during the month of August this year.
The zinc slab production during August ’16 totaled 1,215.4 kt and the consumption totaled 1,156.4 kt.
