China nickel stocks hit about 8.1 million tonnes at ports by the end of April 2009 and 6.5 million tonnes were piled at Rizhao, Lanshan, Lianyungang and Tianjin ports.
Import quantities of laterite-nickel ore and nickel concentrate remained steady in the first quarter.
Customs' data shows that China imported 570,000 tonne of nickel ore in March and totalled 1.69 million tonnes in the first three months sliding by 52% year-on-year. Arrivals from Indonesia reached 120,000 tonnes at a price of USD 37 per tonne in March 2009, when 410,000 tonnes flooded from Philippines at USD 21 per tonne.
The mport price of laterite-nickel ore plunged sharply compared to that in the last year. Following the end of monsoon, imports from the Philippines shot up in March 2009, but volumes from Indonesia dropped in the same period, as their ferronickel enterprises still widely suspended production, heavily dragging down the demand for high grade nickel ore.
In March, China purchased 21,288 tonnes of nickel concentrate from Australia, 11,658 tonnes from Russia and 5,615 tonnes from Botswana. The total nickel concentrate import in March reached 40,000 tonnes, which were mainly delivered to Jinchuan, Gansu Province, the largest nickel production base in China.
Source: MySteel/Steel Guru
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