LME and SHFE Nickel Inventories Increased, but may Fall amid the Strong Demand

SHANGHAI, Oct 18 (SMM) - According to SMM data, the SHFE nickel inventory continued to decrease since reaching the highest point of 8,710 mt on April 8, 2022. As of October 14, SHFE nickel inventory stood at 4,413 mt, an increase of 2,920 mt from the lowest point since July 22, 2022. Total pure nickel inventory in the six regions hit the highest point at 7,423 mt in the past two months on October 14. In line with the trend of SHFE nickel inventory, on October 17, LME nickel inventory recorded the highest point in more than one month to 53,688 mt.

According to the specific data of SMM, as of October 14, the pure nickel inventory in the six regions decreased 772 mt compared with that on October 10. Nickel briquette inventory stood at 1,150 mt, 300 mt higher than a week ago. The inventory of nickel plates was 6,273 mt, down 1,072 mt compared with last week. The inventory of nickel plates fell sharply. As downstream did not stock before the National Day holiday, downstream enterprises still needed to purchase high-priced pure nickel after resumed the production. As a result, the inventory of nickel plate declined.

Thanks to the long-term orders of nickel sulphate, the demand for nickel briquette still existed. Some steel mills also had demand for nickel briquette. As the import window opened, the social inventory of nickel briquette increased. Affected by the tight supply of MHP, the prices of nickel sulphate continued to rise. In this scenario, the cost efficiency of nickel briquette improved, thus the recent transactions of nickel briquette were acceptable.