Proposal to launch low-grade ferro-nickel, 20-25% Ni contained cif China price assessment

Fastmarkets proposes to launch a fortnightly price assessment for CIF China low-grade ferro-nickel with 20-25% nickel contained.

Ferro-nickel is an alloy composed primarily of iron and nickel that is mainly used for stainless steel production.

Fastmarkets has been tracking high-grade ferronickel price since 2016, but low-grade ferro-nickel has become more mainstream since the rapid rise in the amount of Indonesian lower-grade ferro-nickel entering the market, the shrinking nickel content in global nickel supplies after decades of mining and the production cuts and closures at many non-Indonesian ferro-nickel plants.

The proposed price assessment will allow Fastmarkets to bring more transparency to the CIF China low-grade (20-25% nickel) ferro-nickel market.

The proposed specifications are as follows:

Ferro-nickel, 20-25% nickel contained, cif China, $/tonne
Quality: Ferro-nickel, 20-25% Ni, S 0.07% max, P 0.05% max
Quantity, min 100 nickel metal tonnes per lot
Location: CIF China
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Fortnightly, Monday at 4pm London time

This price will be part of the Fastmarkets ores and alloys package.

The consultation period for this proposed launch starts from October 18 and will end on November 15. The launch will take place, subject to market feedback, on November 25.

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: Dylan Duan, re: low grade ferro-nickel, 20-25% Ni contained, 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.

What to read next
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for its MB-MNO-0002 manganese ore semi carbonate index, 36.5% Mn, fob Port Elizabeth, which was published incorrectly on Friday June 5 due to incorrect source data.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for PIX Packaging Europe indices via an open consultation process between May 7 and June 8, 2026. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.
The MB-MNO-0003 Manganese ore semi carbonate index, 36.5% Mn, cif Tianjin, $ per dmtu was published in error as $4.75 per dry metric tonne unit. It has been corrected to $4.74 per dmtu. The rationale for the same index on the same date was also updated to reflect this change. It erroneously stated that “Fastmarkets’ manganese ore semi-carbonate […]
The publication of Fastmarkets’ price assessments for MB-FEO-0004 molybdenum, MB drummed molybdic oxide Mo, in-whs Busan; for MB-FEO-0003 molybdenum, drummed molybdic oxide, 57% Mo min, in-whs Rotterdam; and for MB-FEO-0001 ferro-molybdenum, 65% Mo min, in-whs Rotterdam, was delayed on Monday June 8 owing to slow data processing.
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for its MB-NI-0247 Nickel sulfate premium, cif Japan and Korea, which was published incorrectly on Friday June 5 due to a reporter error.
The eight assessments will cover the United States for tissue jumbo/parent rolls made from wood pulp and recycled pulp for both retail and away-from-home markets. The new prices will replace the price estimates currently published in Fastmarkets’ US Tissue Monthly Data report and will be a part of the Fastmarkets tissue package. The new prices will […]