SHANGHAI, Jan 20 (SMM) - As of January 20, inventory of nickel ore across Chinese ports dipped 96,000 wmt to 8.58 million wmt compared with last Friday. The total Ni content fell 1,000 mt to about 67,000 mt. Inventory of nickel ore across seven major Chinese ports stood at 4.94 million wmt, up 64,000 wmt WoW. The arrivals at Lanqiao Port grew palpably. Nickel ore trading remained slack as the Chinese New Year comes closer. Arrivals of nickel ore at ports stood low due to the rainy season in the Philippines. On the demand side, steel mills and NPI plants suspended the production for overhaul, reducing the demand for nickel ore. On the whole, the inventory of laterite nickel ore dropped slowly. After the Chinese New Year holiday, the port inventory may fall rapidly with the improvement of downstream demand.
