As of December 2, inventory of nickel ore across Chinese ports dipped 23,000 wmt to 8.92 million wmt compared with last Friday. The total Ni content stood at around 70,000 mt. Port inventory of nickel ore across seven major Chinese ports stood at 4.84 million wmt, 153,000 wmt higher than last week. On the demand side, NPI plants suffered losses amid the falling NPI prices. Besides, steel mills cut their production, thus the NPI plants became less willing to produce, reducing the nickel ore demand.

On the supply side, recently, the shipments flowing out of the ports in the Philippines have gradually decreased, and the inflow of nickel ore to the Chinese market has declined. It is expected that the stock of nickel ore at ports will continue to decline in the future, but the import volume from other countries and regions such as New Caledonia will be relatively considerable. In addition, the consumption of nickel ore at NPI plants will be limited. Port inventory of nickel ore may fall limitedly in the short term.
Source: SMM