SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) – In early March, consumption recovery was still short of expectations. Market players did hot pin much hope on consumption recovery during the “Two Sessions”. The recovery of stainless steel consumption was much slower than expected, putting great downward pressure on the NPI market. The LME will resume nickel trading during Asian hours. Huayou Cobalt planned to apply to register its nickel as deliverable brand on the LME. Norilsk Nickel might change its settlement methods. All these events combined sent nickel prices plummeting. Vast amounts of Indonesian NPI arrived at Chinese ports at the end of February and NPI from traders flowed into the market, causing supply to surge. Weak NPI prices began to suppress nickel ore prices. Although the Philippines is still in the rainy season, shipments from the country are now gradually recovering with the weather getting warmer, which will weigh on nickel ore prices. In this context, NPI prices are expected to face downward risks in March.