SHANGHAI, Apr 28 (SMM) – The nickel industry has been in the limelight in the non-ferrous metals commodities market over the recent months, as demand and supply fundamentals have become more volatile.
Indonesia, which used to be the world’s biggest nickel ore exporter has banned exports of nickel ore in January to boost expansion of its domestic smelting industry. As China turns to the Philippines for ore supply, nickel ore imports from the Philippines has been badly hit in April, as the key exporter has suspended all mining operations in the nickel mining hub Surigao del Norte, as an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On the other hand, manufacturing activities of the China nickel downstream sectors expanded in March, with the purchasing managers index (PMI) for downstream nickel industries standing at 56.31. The PMI reading rose above 50 after contracting for eleven consecutive months, as factories resumed operations amid the easing of movement restrictions from COVID-19.
We are glad to present you with the SMM China Nickel Weekly and Nickel Downstream Sectors PMI Monthly, to keep you updated of the changes of demand/supply of the China nickel industry chain.
In the China Nickel Weekly report, we provide you a deep-dive of the China domestic nickel market, as our analysts conduct detailed surveys on the daily price, operating rates, output, capacity, inventory changes on the refined nickel, nickel pig iron, stainless steel, chrome ores and ferrochrome.
We also cover the latest demand/supply updates across the nickel and stainless steel industry and the situation of nickel downstream products (including stainless steel, electroplating, alloy and battery) to give you a comprehensive overview of the nickel industry chain.
For the Nickel Downstream Sectors PMI Monthly our analysts will update you on a monthly basis the production, orders, inventories and procurement of downstream sectors such as alloy casting, batteries, electroplating and stainless steel.