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Proposal to launch laterite ore 1.3% nickel content cif China

Fastmarkets proposes to launch a weekly assessment for laterite ore with 1.3% nickel content, cif China, $/tonne.

March 12, 2024
By Dylan Duan
Nickel ore Pricing notice

Laterite ore is a form of nickel ore that makes up the majority of the world’s nickel ore supply. Fastmarkets has tracked prices of nickel ore imported into China from 2014. 

The proposed price assessment will allow Fastmarkets to bring more transparency to the laterite ore CIF China market with 1.3% nickel, which accounts for around half of total nickel ore volumes imported into China.

The proposed specifications for the assessment are as follows:

Laterite ore with 1.3% Ni content, cif China, $/tonne
Quality: Nickel ore 1.3% Ni, 15-25% Fe, Si:Mg ratio 1.1-1.8, water content 35% max
Quantity: min 50,000 tonnes
Location: cif China
Unit: USD per tonne
Payment terms: LC, cash, or other payment terms normalized
Publication: Weekly. Friday 2-3pm London time

The consultation period for this proposed launch starts from Tuesday March 12 and will end on Wednesday April 10. The launch will take place, subject to market feedback, on Friday April 12.

To provide feedback on this proposal or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to this price, please contact Dylan Duan by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Sally Zhang and Dylan Duan, re: Laterite ore with 1.3% Ni content, cif China.”

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.

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