Nickel ore inventories at Chinese ports fell 260,000 wmt in the first week after CNY holiday

The Australian iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group released a production report today. The report showed that iron ore shipments in the second quarter increased by 4.7% from the first quarter, benefiting from the surge in Chinese demand.

A total of 89 vessels carrying 14.65 million mt of iron ore arrived at major Chinese ports during December 6-12, SMM estimates.

Xintian Steel Group Zhasan Iron & Steel was required to eliminate all of its capacity to comply with Tianjin’s steel industry policies following the issuance of Work Plan to Fight and Prevent Pollution in 2019 on July 3, 2018. As of September 17, 2020, Zhasan Iron & Steel has shut down completely, resulting in a daily loss of 8,000 mt of pig iron output. The mill mainly produced steel billets and had two 1,260 m³ blast furnaces and two 120 mt converters, with annual steel capacity of 3 million mt.

Operating rates at copper rod makers stood at 72.66% in August, a decrease of 3.50 percentage points month on month and 2.79 percentage points year on year, according to SMM survey.

Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas remained unchanged from a week ago and stood at 20,800 mt as of September 4, showed SMM data.

Inventories of steel rebar across Chinese steelmakers and social warehouses declined in the week ended September 3 as in-plant stocks fell rapidly in a traditional high season.

Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin dropped more than 4,700 mt from the prior week to 31,600 mt in the week ended September 4.

Social inventories of silicon metal in China edged higher this week as producers in Yunnan stepped up operations. 

Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin dipped 700 mt from the prior week to 36,400 mt in the week ended August 28.

Zinc inventories in China increased 6,700 mt over the weekend, and Shanghai and Tianjin were the two major contributors.