Posted on 07 Mar 2024
Chinese prices of nickel pig iron (NPI) continued to strengthen over the past week, with the price of 8-10% grade NPI in East China's Jiangsu province under Mysteel's assessment reaching Yuan 975/mtu ($135/mtu) including delivery and the 13% VAT as of March 5, higher by another Yuan 25/mtu from one week before.
Domestic NPI smelters are determined to hold their offering prices of the ferroalloy at their current high, as most are still operating at a loss from the firming prices of smelting raw materials such as nickel concentrates, Mysteel Global learned.
As of March 5, the price of Philippines-origin 1.3% nickel content concs under Mysteel's assessment was still at $29/t CIF Lianyungang port in Jiangsu, unchanged from one week earlier.
The supply of nickel concs from the Philippines has not yet recovered, and the volume of these concs delivered to China remains limited, leading to the continuous decrease in inventories at the country's major ports.
Mysteel's latest weekly survey showed that as of February 29, total stocks of nickel concs at China's 14 major ports came in at 10.56 million tonnes, slipping by another 106,800 tonnes or 1% on week. Among the total, the volume imported from the Philippines reached 9.98 million tonnes, lower by 216,800 tonnes or 2.1% during the same period.
However, China's NPI prices still face some pressure from stainless producers, as the steel firms are unwilling to purchase NPI at such a high price when stainless prices in the physical market have retreated somewhat, Mysteel Global noted. Demand for stainless is lackluster and end-users are still maintaining their wait-and-see stance regarding purchases.
For example, the price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold-rolled coil in Wuxi, a major stainless trading hub in Jiangsu, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 14,600/t in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT as of March 5, lower by Yuan 150/t from the prior week.
Source:Mysteel Global
