Premiums of Russian Nickel Hold Stable

Nickel futures prices rose significantly last week and then fell to around 140,000 yuan/mt on February 26, and the spot transactions rebounded. Currently, the downstream industries of refined nickel have fully resumed work, and the orders from alloy casting enterprises are relatively stable as they had restocked before CNY and maintained production in holiday.

Russian nickel was trading at a discount of 300 yuan/mt against the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange 1802 contract on Friday February 2 whereas Jinchuan nickel was flat, SMM learned.  

Trading sentiment in China’s domestic nickel market was moderate, with SHFE nickel fluctuating.

Nickel Price Advances Following Production Cut News

With the opening of profitable import window for several days, premiums for Russian nickel in bonded area rose rapidly. 

On Tuesday, Jinchuan nickel was offered at premiums of RMB 800/mt over Wuxi’s 1710 nickel, and Russian nickel at premiums of RMB 250-300/mt over the same contract. 

Nickel price hovered at highs on Friday, and market caution ruled market trading sentiment, with small purchases by alloy and electroplating plants, Shanghai Metals Market learns. 

On Tuesday, downstream producers were not active in purchases despite price fallback from highs. Some traders chose to sell Russian nickel and buy Jinchuan nickel due to a smaller gap.

Premiums of imported Russian nickel traded higher slightly last week due to limited resources, Shanghai Metals Market learns. 

One EAF NPI producer in Shandong plans to resume its production at one EAF unit from Aug. 29, Shanghai Metals Market learns.