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SPOTLIGHT: When is nickel ore not nickel ore?

June 23, 2011 - 04:35 GMT Location: Shanghai

KEYWORDS: China , nickel ore import , iron ore

One of the curiosities in China’s latest trade data was a leap in imports of nickel ore in May, which doesn’t necessarily indicate greater demand from nickel pig iron (NPI) producers

Inbound shipments, overwhelmingly from Indonesia and the Philippines, rose to 4.19 million tonnes – the first time monthly imports had passed 3 million tonnes, let alone 4 million tonnes. Import volumes tend to have a lagging correlation with LME nickel prices: stainless producers want more nickel pig iron when refined prices rise, and the nickel pig iron ore producers in turn seek more laterite ore from overseas to support their production. The nickel ore import figures are therefore also used as an indicator of nickel pig iron consumption in China, which is difficult to measure accurately. But in the case of May imports, market participants report two other factors in play. The first – less interesting – was that shipping delays caused some deliveries to be postponed from...

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Nickel & Tin

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Stainless & Special Steels

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Iron Ore & Coking Coal

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Raw Materials - Ores & Alloys

May 23, 2012 14:43 Chinese tungsten ore output drops 8% in April
May 23, 2012 00:47 Temco restart may crimp US manganese alloy tags
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