China Nickel Pig Iron Output Up By 49% YoY in Jul
SMM reported that production of refined nickel in China came in at 12,650 tonne in July, up 0.56% from June and 1.61% from July 2018. SMM learned that a smelter in the middle of July began annual maintenance on one of its production lines, which would last for about one month. The smelter’s another production line will begin maintenance at the start of September. This is expected to impact output by a combined volume of about 2,000 tonne.
China’s output of refined nickel, however, is likely to barely change from July in August, as higher output from a smelter in Shandong will offset the losses.
Nickel production is unlikely to receive a boost from smelters who planned to shift from nickel sulphate production to refined nickel, as they may give up the plan in August.
In July, output of nickel pig iron in China rose 2.57% from June to 50,700 tonne in Ni content. This created a substantial increase of 49.13% from a year ago, as environmental pressure suspended a slew of producers in June-July 2018.
High-grade NPI accounted for 43,500 tonne in Ni content, up 3.18% from a month ago, as new capacity in Jiangsu and Liaoning came online and as output from Shandong recovered.
Source : SMM