China’s Refined Nickel Output Surges in July 2024 Amid Export Boom
China's refined nickel production in July 2024 saw significant growth, reaching 28.9 thousand tons, an 8.2% increase from June and a 33.9% rise compared to July 2023, according to the Shanghai Metals Market (SMM). Over the first seven months of 2024, Chinese companies produced a total of 180.7 thousand tons of refined nickel, marking a 39.4% increase from the same period last year.
A record high was also observed in China's refined nickel exports, which surged to 15.03 thousand tons in July, a 45.2% jump from the previous month. A substantial portion of these exports originated from Dingxing, a joint venture between Tsingshan and CNGR, with most of the metal being shipped to licensed warehouses of the London Metal Exchange (LME) in East Asia. Conversely, China's nickel imports dropped by 42.0% year-on-year to 4,245 tons in June.
China's output of nickel-containing pig iron (NPI) also increased, with July production reaching 29.9 thousand tons of pure nickel, a 6.4% year-on-year rise. However, the country remains reliant on imports from Indonesia, which totaled 114 thousand tons of nickel in the form of NPI and ferronickel in July, an 8.6% increase from the previous year.
Despite the rise in refined nickel production, China's NPI output for the first seven months of 2024 totaled 194.1 thousand tons, representing a 13.8% decline compared to the same period in 2023. This reduction is partly attributed to the country's gradual decrease in nickel ore imports from the Philippines.
In Indonesia, NPI production during January to July reached 795.3 thousand tons, a 3.8% year-on-year increase. However, the industry faced a raw material shortage in July, leading to a 6.5% drop in output compared to June and a 12.1% decrease from July 2023. Despite this, the raw material situation has improved, and new production facilities, such as Jindal Stainless' NPI plant on Halmahera Island, have come online. SMM forecasts a resumption of growth in Indonesia's NPI production starting in August.
On the other hand, China's battery nickel sulfate industry is facing challenges due to excess inventory and declining prices. Production in this sector fell by 9% year-on-year and 29.7% from June to July, resulting in an output of 27,800 tons of pure nickel. The total production for the first seven months of 2024 reached 220.3 thousand tons, a 7.3% decrease from the previous year.
