Nickel Ore Inventories at Chinese Ports fell 164,000 wmt

SHANGHAI, Dec 10 – The nickel ore inventory at Chinese ports dipped 164,000 wmt from a week earlier to 9.01 million wmt as of December 10. Total Ni content stood at 70,800 mt. Total inventory at seven major ports stood at around 4.27 million wmt, a drop of 124,000 wmt from a week earlier.

Among the current nickel ore inventories at ports, the Indonesian nickel ore has been fully utilised, barely leaving any inventories. Although the supply of nickel ore has shrunk sharply during the wet season in the Philippines, the weak demand from NPI plants has led to continued accumulation of port inventories. The current stainless steel and NPI markets are uncertain, and the NPI prices remain in a downward track. The purchases of nickel ore were cautiously made. Despite the continued decline in nickel ore inventory, the expectations of tight nickel ore supply this year can hardly pay off.