Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, contract, ddp China was at 1,030-1,050 yuan ($145-148) per nickel unit on Friday, up by 20-30 yuan from 1,010-1,020 yuan per nickel unit on October 11.
And Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for nickel pig iron, high-grade NPI content 10-15%, spot, ddp China was 1,030-1,050 yuan per nickel unit on Friday, also up by 20-30 yuan from 1,010-1,020 yuan per nickel unit one week earlier.
The latest assessments set new year-to-date highs and are also the highest level since November 10, 2023.
One major stainless steel producer based in southern China raised its tender price for buying NPI to 1,050 yuan per nickel unit in the week to Friday, up by 30-40 yuan per nickel unit week on week, sources said.
The increase followed rumors that Tsingshan and several other big NPI producers were planning to jointly raise their stainless steel feedstock prices to 1,050 yuan per nickel unit to offset rising NPI production costs caused by ore supply shortages in Indonesia, Fastmarkets understands.
“The market has been chaotic [over the past] week because of the sudden sharp rise in traded prices [and] many market participants are still on the sidelines, digesting such a big price move,” an NPI trader based in eastern China said.
The market has mixed views on the outlook for NPI prices in the short term, however, Fastmarkets understands.
Some sources said they expect prices to stabilize or even move higher because the major players are likely to increase the number of trades.
But others told Fastmarkets the rally in NPI prices could end up being short-lived, because of “lukewarm” stainless steel fundamentals.
“The current price level of 1,050 yuan [per nickel unit] is expensive for most stainless steel mills, especially with stainless steel spot and futures prices have also sliding recently,” a southwestern-based nickel trader said. “If NPI prices stay high, most steel mills will start losing money again.”
The most-traded December stainless steel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at 13,775 yuan per tonne on October 18, down by 270 yuan per tonne from 14,045 yuan per tonne at the close of trading on October 14.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled coil 2mm grade 304 domestic, ex-whs China was 13,700-13,800 yuan per tonne on October 16, down by 200 yuan per tonne from 13,900-14,000 yuan per tonne on October 9.
Upstream, domestic NPI producers in China have also started asking for nickel ore prices because their interest in purchasing ore increases when NPI prices rise, sources told Fastmarkets.
“We did see some [Chinese] NPI plants coming out to inquire about [nickel ore] prices after downstream NPI prices spiked this week, but they still want to buy the raw material at relatively low prices because their input costs are still much higher than those of Indonesian NPI producers,” a nickel ore trader based in Shanghai said.
“With the ore mines in the Surigao region of the Philippines entering the monsoon season, shipments are expected to [fall significantly], so middle-grade [ore] prices will remain relatively firm in the near term,” the trader added.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for laterite ore with 1.3% Ni content, cif China was unchanged at $38-40 per tonne on Friday.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for higher-grade laterite ore with 1.5% Ni content, cif China was $51-53 per tonne on October 18, stable week on week.
And Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment of nickel ore 1.8% basis 15-20% Fe water content: 30-35% Si:Mg ratio<2 lot size 50,000 tonnes, cif China was $70-72 per tonne on October 18, flat since July 5.
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