Supply Glut Weighs on China's Nickel Ore Import Price

  • Tuesday, August 23, 2011
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  • Keywords:nickel ore
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 China’s nickel ore import price has fallen for the first time in at least two weeks, amid a serious glut in port stockpiles and a weaker nickel price on the London Metal Exchange.
 
Importers were selling nickel ore at 1.8% nickel content for RMB740 ($116) per tonne on Monday, compared with RMB760-RMB780 per tonne last week.
 
But trading volume is very small, as downstream users are not willing to buy,” a nickel ore importer in Lianyungang port said.
 
Chinese ports are already overloaded with nickel ore after inbound volumes surged in recent months. Imports hit a fresh record high of 4.63 million tonnes in July, according to customs figures released on Monday.
 
Inventories at seven major ports rose to 9.07 million tonnes as of August 19, up more than 11% from early June, according to Umetal.
 
“The nickel ore price will continue falling. There are fewer people buying and supply is too big,” an analyst in Beijing said. “Many nickel pig iron producers reduced purchasing volumes in August, and they are holding off buying and waiting for the price to fall down further.”
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