In April, domestic nickel ore inventories at major Chinese ports declined by 1.28 million tons, bringing the total to 19.3 million tons. This decrease was less significant compared to the drop recorded in March. Specifically, Indonesia's nickel ore inventory fell by 162,000 tons, reaching 13.48 million tons from 15.1 million tons at the end of March. Meanwhile, the Philippines saw an increase of 340,000 tons, rising to 5.82 million tons from 5.48 million tons. The rise in imports contributed to a more pronounced buildup in nickel stockpiles at domestic ports during late April.
Notably, Tianjin Port and Lianyungang experienced reductions in nickel inventories, with decreases of 500,000 tons and 450,000 tons respectively. Currently, domestic nickel ore stocks consist mainly of port-held reserves and supplies held by downstream nickel pig iron manufacturers, with some overlap between the two groups. Two key points should be considered regarding the availability of nickel ore for domestic nickel pig iron producers:
First, lateritic nickel ore inventories remain substantial, but high-nickel ore is concentrated among a few large-scale nickel pig iron producers or integrated nickel-pig iron and stainless steel companies. These major players typically hold enough raw materials to last 4–5 months, with some having stockpiles sufficient for up to a year. In contrast, smaller and medium-sized manufacturers maintain much lower inventory levels, often only enough to last one or two months.
Second, nickel ore imports from the Philippines are expected to rise in the coming year. A significant amount of low-nickel, high-iron ore is anticipated to enter China, which is more suitable for producing low-grade nickel pig iron and is often treated as iron ore. Additionally, it is projected that China will import up to 15 million tons of medium- to high-grade nickel ore from the Philippines for the remainder of the year. Due to tight supply conditions and rising LME nickel prices, the price of high-grade nickel ore in the Philippines has surged, leading to higher raw material costs for nickel pig iron producers.
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