China produced 12,480 mt of lithium carbonate in January, down 15.1% on the month, but up 21.3% on the year.

Nickel ore inventories across all Chinese ports continued to fall this week, decreasing 179,000 wmt from April 30 to 8.67 million wmt as of May 8, showed SMM data. This came after a decline of 347,000 wmt in the week ended April 30.

The nickel industry has been in the limelight in the non-ferrous metals commodities market over the recent months, as demand and supply fundamentals have become more volatile. 

Nickel pig iron (NPI) smelters invested by Chinese companies in Indonesia will face an increase in smelting costs as Indonesia has planned to implement a floor price on nickel ore, which is aimed at preventing local smelting companies from purchasing ore at prices deemed too low.

Nickel ore shipments from the Philippines' southern province of Surigao del Sur can be resumed on May 8, while shipments from the top nickel mining hub—Surigao del Norte—are expected to recover in mid-May, SMM learned from two traders.

SHFE nonferrous metals rose across the board on Friday, as market sentiment was rallied after China’s Ministry of Finance pledged to make an early allocation of the special-purpose bond quotas for transportation infrastructure construction. 

Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday, following their biggest-ever quarterly losses, as US President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their oil price war.

Shanghai base metals opened mostly higher on Wednesday morning, as Beijing said that it will roll out a set of fiscal and financial policies to expand domestic demand, assist businesses reopening, sustain employment, and help all types of businesses to weather this difficult time.

Papua New Guinea has banned vessels from calling at its ports to load cargoes after the largest Pacific Island nation declared a state of emergency last week

Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas fell this week as the import arbitrage window opened earlier in the week. SMM data showed that inventories of pure nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas declined 500 mt in the week ended March 27 to 19,300 mt, with stocks of briquette shrinking 200 mt to 2,000 mt.