SHANGHAI, Feb 7 (SMM) – Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas remained unchanged from the levels before the Chinese New Year holiday, on the back of muted trades in the bonded zone as the coronavirus outbreak extended the CNY holiday. 

SMM data showed that there was about 18,500 mt of pure nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas on Friday February 7, flat from January 23. Stocks of briquettes were also unchanged at 3,400 mt.

The import arbitrage window remained closed this week, with a weekly average import loss of 2,184 yuan/mt. It was learned that recent arrivals at ports cannot be moved into warehouses, while the handling of transfer procedures is only allowed.

The discounts between LME nickel cash and three-month contract continued to expand, to an average $82.5/mt this week, indicating sufficient nearby supplies. The SHFE/LME nickel price ratio averaged 7.999, with an average import loss for Russian nickel at 1,805 yuan/mt, smaller from the pre-holiday week. 

Next week, trades of seaborn nickel will pick up and the delivery from warehouses may also resume to normal as traders and downstream buyers return from holidays.