By Bloomberg News
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- China’s increased nickel imports, boosted by expanding stainless steel output and a price gap between the domestic and overseas markets, have driven a rally in London prices, Macquarie Group Ltd. said.
China’s largest stainless steel producers operated at “historically high” capacity usage rates of more than 95 percent in May, while imports surged in the second quarter as domestic nickel traded at a premium to the London Metal Exchange, Macquarie analysts led by Jim Lennon said in a report.
Nickel gained 20 percent over the past two weeks to more than $6 a pound on the LME, the report said. China’s refined nickel imports rose 16 percent in the first four months compared with a year earlier to 53,535 metric tons, according to customs data cited in the report. The metal is used to rustproof steel.
The price rally has prompted the restart of nickel pig iron production in China, especially in the northern and western parts of the country, the report said. The pig iron, processed from low-grade ore, is a cheaper alternative to refined metal.
“We hear that around 15 to 20 nickel pig iron producers have brought back production capacity since mid-May with most of them producing pig iron with 10 percent plus of nickel content using electric arc furnaces,” said the report e-mailed June 6.
Stainless steel output from China, the world’s largest producer, may stay level with last year’s 6.9 million tons, after declining in 2008, Xu Aidong, analyst at Beijing Antaike Information Development Co., said on May 20.
Nickel for delivery in three-months on the LME fell 3.1 percent to $14,150 a ton ($6.42 a pound) at 3:43 p.m. Singapore time.
--Feiwen Rong, Richard Dobson. Editors: Wendy Pugh, Indranil Ghosh
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feiwen Rong in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-7051 or frong2@bloomberg.net
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