SHANGHAI, Jun 17 (SMM) - As of June 17, port inventories of nickel ore in China dropped by 11,000 wmt to 4.88 million wmt compared with last week. The total Ni content stood at 38,000 wmt. The port inventory of nickel ore across seven major Chinese ports stood at 2,008,000 wmt, 49,000 wmt lower than last week. Nickel ore supply still did not become sufficient when the rainy season ended in the Philippines. According to SMM research, the supply gap of nickel ore is mainly contributed by the poor weather conditions in the Philippines in the first half of 2022. The falling nickel ore inventory at ports indicates that the supply of nickel ore this year is always tight, which can hardly be eased in the short term. According to some traders, the shipment of nickel ore from the Philippines in the first half of 2022 was far lower than expected, and the damage to local infrastructure in the Philippines caused by poor weather conditions needed time to be repaired. In China, the production of NPI keeps releasing demand, while the falling nickel ore prices may not boost shipments from the mines, hence the market cannot see a short-term supply surplus of nickel ore.
