SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) - Domestic NPI output slightly declined and stood at 37,200 mt in Ni content in April, down 4.17% MoM and up 9.86% YoY, according to SMM research. The output of high-grade NPI stood at 30,700 mt (Ni content) in April, down about 3.7% MoM. And the output of low-grade NPI was 6,700 mt (Ni content), down about 6.5% MoM. In April, the NPI prices remained high, and the profits of NPI mills were good, which should have encouraged upstream production. However, due to the pandemic, the operating rate of NPI production lines in some regions such as Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and Jiangsu was lower than expected, and the recovery of NPI output was limited or even decreased compared with that in March. Secondly, although the output of NPI increased slightly in physical content in April, the final output in metal content was lower than expected due to the fluctuation of NPI grade. Therefore, the overall NPI supply was still tight in April. The output of NPI in China is expected to be 38,700 mt (Ni content) in May, and may continue to rise. Among them, the output of high-grade NPI may increase to about 32,000 mt (Ni content). The recurrence of the pandemic and the decline of production and demand of steel mills were the main factors limiting the expectations.