[minutes of SMM nickel internal morning meeting] the nickel price continues to be weak and the downstream transaction is light.

SMM, May 9 / PRNewswire-Asianet /-

Macroscopically, the US dollar recovered after falling yesterday, as global trade risks remained, causing risky assets to fall, global stock markets and commodities were suppressed, and the US dollar closed at 97.624, up 0.6 per cent. China's Ministry of Commerce has issued a statement on the proposed tariff escalation measures by the US side: if the US tariff measures are implemented, the Chinese side will have to take the necessary countermeasures. China's exports grew negatively in April, with imports growing at a six-month high, with China's trade surplus expanding by 26% in the first four months. China's imports and exports to the United States fell year-on-year, and the trade surplus widened. China's crude oil imports hit an all-time high in April, while iron ore imports fell to an 18-month low.

Nickel price judgment: bearish expectations in the realization process: 1. East China large-scale nickel pig iron plant and Indonesia nickel pig iron production as planned, nickel pig iron supply gradually become relaxed, high nickel pig iron than electrolytic nickel continuous water. 2. Stainless steel market demand has not obviously recovered, the overall transaction is general, prices have fallen continuously, while social inventory has maintained a high level in recent years. The import window continued to open, the import volume of pure nickel increased, the supply of goods was significantly relaxed, and the rising water decreased continuously. Fundamentals are weak and nickel prices are expected to continue their weak pattern. At the same time, we need to pay attention to the recent Sino-US trade negotiation process, China's macro data and the pace of production and maintenance of stainless steel plants.

In April 2019, the national natural monthly output of electrolytic nickel was 12600 tons, an increase of 5.55 per cent over the same period last year. In April, the national electrolytic nickel production decreased by 2% compared with March. The production of electrolytic nickel remained normal in April, and the slight decline in production was mainly due to the decrease in natural days.

In April, the national nickel pig iron increased by 4.64 per cent to 48000 nickel tons, an increase of 17.91 per cent over the same period last year. In terms of taste, the output of high nickel pig iron increased by 3.20% to 41700 nickel tons in April compared with March, mainly due to the increase in new production of large nickel pig iron plants in Shandong Province. Low nickel pig iron production increased by 15.17 per cent to 6300 nickel tons in April from a month earlier, mainly due to the continued release of low nickel pig iron production from the Southern Steel Plant.

In April, China produced 10813 tons of nickel sulfate and 49200 tons in kind, down 1.4 percent from the previous month and up 14.97 percent from the same period last year. On the one hand, production at a nickel sulfate plant in the north has been affected this month and production has declined; on the other hand, production has been reduced due to tight supply of raw materials, high prices and meagre profits in some small factories. However, the production capacity of the precursor integration plant continued to climb, and the increased production made up for some of the reduction. In terms of inventories, nickel stocks on the 8th were 171100 tons, down 1680 tons from the previous day.