Nickel ore inventories at ports extend decline

Shanghai base metals traded mixed after opening on Thursday morning, as Fed failed to set a timeline for tapering asset purchase, and COVID-19 pandemic made a comeback. Meanwhile, their counterparts on LME mostly went up.

Shanghai base metals were mostly lower on Tuesday morning as investors awaited the release of China's trade data for June. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME also fell for the most part.

This is a roundup of China's metals weekly inventory as of July 9.

Nickel ore inventories across all Chinese ports expanded 77,000 wmt from the previous week to 5.37 million wmt as of April 30, showed SMM data. 

Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas fell this week, as shipments under bill of lading were delayed due to COVID-19 related lockdowns while there were flows from bonded areas to domestic markets.  SMM data showed that inventories of pure nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas stood at 17,900 mt as of Friday April 17, down from 18,600 mt a week earlier.

Nickel ore inventories across all Chinese ports decreased 750,000 wmt in the week ended February 28 to 12.59 million wmt, more than double the decline of 360,000 wmt in the previous week.

China’s imports of nickel ore continued to fall in January, as Indonesia’s export ban came into force and the wet season in the Philippines has yet to come to an end.

Nickel ore inventories across all Chinese ports stood at 14.43 million wmt as of Monday February 3

SHFE nonferrous metals, except for lead, closed higher on US-China trade thaw

Dwindling resources will make it harder to explore new mines