SHANGHAI, May 22 (SMM) – Inventories of refined nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas continued to decline as of May 22 as a temporarily opened import window last Friday and early this week and smaller import losses during the week triggered the outflow of nickel cathode to the domestic market.

SMM data showed that inventories of pure nickel in the Shanghai bonded areas stood at 15,400 mt as of May 22, down 1,500 mt from May 15, with nickel cathode accounting for all the decline.

The recent arrival of Russian nickel at ports directly entered the Chinese market instead of flowing into the bonded warehouses. The bonded stocks of refined nickel fell an accumulative 2,000 mt in the month to May 22.