By Paul Ploumis
December 19, 2016 06:36:06 AM
SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The latest Metals Balances Report released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that Nickel market has ended in a small deficit during Jan-Oct ’16. Also, Tin market has recorded slight deficit during this period. The WBMS data suggests that global zinc market too recorded marginal deficit.
Nickel
Global nickel market ended in deficit of 77,100 tonnes in January-October 2016 with apparent demand exceeding production. The calculated full year surplus had stood at 73.5 kt during the whole year 2015, according to WBMS.
The statistics indicate that that reported stockpiles maintained by LME were 77.8 kt lower at the end of October this year from the closing levels of 2015.
Production
World Nickel mine production was 1,696.4 kt in January-October 2016, lower by 83.4 kt when compared with the corresponding period during previous year. The ban on exports by Indonesian administration has led to reduced mine output from the country. In addition, the local mine production from the country has continued to remain extremely weak ever since the beginning of 2014.
Refined Nickel production in Jan-October ’16 was 1,348 kt. The Chinese smelter/refinery production during the initial ten-month period of the year witnessed decline of 35.4 kt compared to 2015. The total smelter/refinery production of Nickel was 158.8 kt in October 2016.
Demand
Refined Nickel consumption during Jan-October ’16 surged higher by 104.9 kt when matched with the previous year. Nickel smelter consumption was 143.5 kt in October this year.
The refined Nickel demand in Jan-October ’16 totaled 1,565.3 kt.
Tin
The worldwide Tin market has recorded a marginal deficit during January to October this year. There were no DLA deliveries during the ten-month period, the data said.
As per WBMS data, the global Tin market recorded slight deficit of 28.8 kt during the initial ten months of the year from January to October in 2016.
Global refined Tin production recorded slight decline of 0.80 kt during the ten-month period. The above production figure is without taking into account re-processed LME metal. The Asian production totaled 229.50 kt during Jan-October ’16, marginally lower when matched with the production of 233.70 kt during the corresponding period last year.
The global demand for the metal has increased by 3.90% when matched with January to October in 2015. The demand totaled 319.0 kt during this period. The Chinese apparent demand saw significant uptick of 7.5% over the previous year. The Japanese consumption totaled 22.2 kt, marginally lower by 0.2 kt when compared with the demand recorded during January to October in 2015.
The reported stock of the metal declined during the initial ten-month period of the year. The stock at the end of the first ten months in 2016 was marginally lower by 6.1 kt when compared with Dec ’15 closing levels. The reported stocks fell by nearly 2.4 kt during the month of October.
During the month of October alone, the global refined Tin production totaled 29.7 kt, as against the demand of 32.3 kt.
Zinc
The worldwide zinc market has recorded small surplus during January to October this year. It must be noted that the zinc market had ended in surplus in the whole of 2015.
As per WBMS data, the global zinc market recorded marginal surplus of 101 kt during the initial ten months of the year from January to October. It should be noted that the worldwide zinc market had reported a surplus of 101 kt during the entire year 2015.
Global refined zinc production witnessed decline of 3.0% during the initial ten-month period of 2016. The Chinese production of locally refined zinc increased marginally by nearly 0.7% when compared with 2015.
The global demand for the metal witnessed decline of 22 kt when matched with January to October in 2015. The Chinese apparent demand totaled 5,539 kt and accounted for over 48% of the global total. The Japanese demand for the metal decreased slightly when matched with the levels recorded during Jan-October ’15. The demand during the ten -month period totaled 401 kt.
The reported stock of the metal has declined by 53,000 tonnes during the initial ten months of the year. Also, LME zinc stocks rose by 12,100 tonnes during the month of October and accounted for 44% of the global stock of the metal. The LME stock levels at the end of October this year were 11.9 kt lower when matched with end-2015 levels.
The Chinese zinc metal imports, mostly special high grade zinc dropped marginally by 3 kt during Jan-October ’16 to 376 kt when compared with the imports during the same period last year. The imports of metal by China increased marginally to 25 kt during the month of October this year, when compared with the imports of 17 kt recorded during the month before.
The zinc slab production during October ’16 totaled 1,207.8 kt and the consumption totaled 1,158.3 kt.
