December ferronickel imports rose 34% year on year

The cost of local nickel pig iron in Indonesia is gradually strengthening, and the downward space for ferronickel prices is expected to be limited.

On the supply side: Due to large import losses, NORNICKEL nickel, Sumitomo, NIKKELVERK nickel and Nickel briquette could not pass customs clearance, the market was in shortage of pure nickel.

This is a roundup of China's metals weekly inventory as of July 2.

Since the gradual recovery of the market after the holiday, prices of nickel ore and ferronickel rose significantly. In addition to the rising nickel prices driving the market sentiment, support from the fundamentals was also strong.

According to customs data, in December 2020, China's nickel ore imports totalled 3.17 million mt (wmt and dmt mixed), a decrease of 11.2% month on month and 26.6% year on year.

China’s copper cathode output increased month on month in October, as there was basically no maintenance at smelters and as large-scale smelters maintained high production in Q4. Although domestic copper scrap was in short supply in October, smelters kept relatively ample stocks of blister copper. Furthermore, as the new secondary copper policy took effect from November 1, concerns over copper scrap supply were eased.

China imported 9.54 million mt of bauxite in May, down 3.98% from the previous month but up 3.57% from the same month of 2019, according to China customs data under HS code 26060000.

Last year, the Republic of Guinea, Australia, and Indonesia remained the top three bauxite exporters to China, with their combined volume accounting for over 94% of the China’s total bauxite imports

China imported 4.32 million mt of nickel ore and concentrate last month, down 27.91% from November

In Jan-Nov, materials from the top supplier Indonesia soared 125% year on year on the back of rising new smelting capacity in the country