SHANGHAI, Oct 19 (SMM) – Nickel inventories in the Shanghai bonded areas decreased 8.1%, or 3,000 mt from last Friday to stand at 34,000 mt as of October 19, SMM data showed.

With an open import arbitrage window, importers continued to move Russian cargoes from bonded warehouses to the domestic spot market even as import earnings thinned.

Arbitrage opportunities also prompted importers to move October’s forward cargoes directly to the market. This limited materials that entered into bonded warehouses.