November 21, 2016 11:35:04 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-Aug ’16. Tin market too has recorded marginal deficits during this period. However, global zinc market recorded marginal surplus.

Nickel

Global nickel market ended in deficit of 76,400 tonnes in January-September 2016 with apparent demand exceeding production. The calculated full year surplus had stood at 75.0 kt during the whole year 2015, according to WBMS.

The statistics indicate that that reported stockpiles maintained by LME were 79.3 kt lower at the end of September this year from the closing levels of 2015.

Production

World Nickel mine production was 1,504.1 kt in January-September 2016, lower by 107.9 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-September ’16 was 1,348 kt. The Chinese smelter/refinery production during the initial nine-month period of the year witnessed decline of 31.9 kt compared to 2015. The total smelter/refinery production of Nickel was 160.3 kt in September 2016.

 Demand

Refined Nickel consumption during Jan-September ’16 surged higher by 72.2 kt when matched with the previous year. Nickel smelter consumption was 161.8 kt in September this year.

The refined Nickel demand in Jan-August ’16 totaled 1,424 kt.

Tin

The worldwide Tin market has recorded a marginal deficit during January to September this year. There were no DLA deliveries during the nine-month period, the data said.

As per WBMS data, the global Tin market recorded slight deficit of 26.6 kt during the initial nine months of the year from January to September in 2016.

Global refined Tin production recorded slight increase of 0.90 kt during the nine-month period. The above production figure is without taking into account re-processed LME metal. The Asian production totaled 206.70 kt during Jan-September ’16, marginally lower when matched with the production of 209.10 kt during the corresponding period last year.

The global demand for the metal has increased by 4.0% when matched with January to September in 2015. The demand totaled 287.8 kt during this period. The Chinese apparent demand saw significant uptick of 7.3% over the previous year. The Japanese consumption totaled 20.1 kt, marginally higher by a fraction when compared with the demand recorded during January to September in 2015.

The reported stock of the metal declined during the initial nine-month period of the year. The stock at the end of the first nine months in 2016 was marginally lower by 3.8 kt when compared with Dec ’15 closing levels. The reported stocks fell by nearly 0.3 kt during the month of September.

During the month of September alone, the global refined Tin production totaled 28.8 kt, as against the demand of 31.9 kt.

Zinc

The worldwide zinc market has recorded small surplus during January to September this year. It must be noted that the zinc market had ended in surplus in the whole of 2015.

As per WBMS data, the global zinc market recorded marginal surplus of 54 kt during the initial nine months of the year from January to September. 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 1.0% during the initial nine-month period of 2016. The Chinese production of locally refined zinc increased marginally by nearly 0.2% when compared with 2015.

The global demand for the metal witnessed jump of 64 kt when matched with January to September in 2015. The Chinese apparent demand totaled 4,966 kt and accounted for over 48% of the global total. The Japanese demand for the metal tumbled by 2.1% when matched with the levels recorded during Jan-September ’15. The demand during the nine -month period totaled 352 kt.

The reported stock of the metal has declined by 74,000 tonnes during the initial nine months of the year. Also, LME zinc stocks dropped by 12,400 tonnes during the month of September and accounted for 43% of the global stock of the metal. The LME stock levels at the end of September this year were 24.0 kt lower when matched with end-2015 levels.

The Chinese zinc metal imports, mostly special high grade zinc increased by 44 kt during Jan-September ’16 to 351 kt when compared with the imports during the same period last year. The imports of metal by China declined marginally to17 kt during the month of September this year.

The zinc slab production during September ’16 totaled 1,274.3 kt and the consumption totaled 1,195.1 kt.