SHANGHAI, May 31 (SMM) – Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas rose 100 mt, or 0.4%, from a week ago and stood at 22,900 mt as of Friday May 31, SMM data showed.

Despite an open import arbitrage window, bonded stocks rebounded after two consecutive weeks of decline as thin trades in domestic spot market deterred the inflow of imports from the bonded warehouses. SMM learned that spot materials were offered in discounts as of Friday May 31.  

This week, forward cargoes directly entered the domestic markets and this capped the increase in bonded inventories.