[SMM Analysis] China's imports of refined nickel increased both YoY and MoM in March 2025, while net imports remained negative.

Published: Apr 21, 2025 18:01

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In March 2025, China's imports of refined nickel (including unwrought non-alloy nickel with a total nickel and cobalt content ≥99.99%, cobalt ≤0.005%, other unwrought non-alloy nickel, and unwrought nickel alloys) reached 8,832 mt, up 8.18% MoM from February and up 34.16% YoY, with a cumulative YoY increase of 124.56%. Net imports remained negative, according to data released by the customs statistics platform.

In March 2025, according to customs statistics, China's imports of refined nickel (including unwrought non-alloy nickel with a total nickel and cobalt content ≥99.99%, cobalt ≤0.005%, other unwrought non-alloy nickel, and unwrought nickel alloys) reached 8,832 mt, up 8.18% MoM from February, up 34.16% YoY, and a cumulative increase of 124.56% YoY. Imports of other unwrought non-alloy nickel were 5,177 mt, down 8.76% MoM but up 54.08% YoY. Imports of non-alloy nickel powder and flake powder were 228.48 mt, down 6.72% MoM and down 32.31% YoY. By country, Russia, Indonesia, and Norway were the top three sources of China's refined nickel imports, totaling 5,677.65 mt, all showing increases MoM. The net import volume of refined nickel was -5,696 mt, still negative but with a significantly narrowed deficit.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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