Additional Indonesia nickel ore export quota to limitedly impact the Chinese market

SHANGHAI, Sep 20 (SMM) – Indonesia-based miner PT Ifishdeco earlier this month received the green light to export 4 million wmt of nickel ore after it exhausted 990,000 wmt of quota approved in late 2017, SMM learned.

As large amounts of quota across Indonesian miners would expire in October-November, SMM expects more new quota to be approved in near term.

Those additional nickel ore export quota, SMM believes, is unlikely to boost the supply in the Chinese market in the rest of the year.

The delivery capacity at hubs is set to limit the shipments. Quota may not be run out before getting expired. Besides, there has yet to be any new miner to get such approval to export nickel ore since March.

SMM estimates nickel ore imports from Indonesia to stand at about 30 vessels, or 1.65 million wmt per month in the remaining months of the year.