Continue to Watch Indonesia, Philippines for 2015 Nickel, Cuba Now in the Game

If Indonesia continues to uphold the ore export ban and the Philippines is unable to fill Indonesia’s void, we may see a nickel rally next year, Shuli Ren of Barron’s Asia wrote. Macquarie, for instance, sees a 50% upside.

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Indonesia and the Philippines are the top two producers in the world, followed by Russia, Australia and Canada. Barclays‘ Ephrem Ravi said in a note that new supply may be coming to market from Cuba:

“One country that intrigues us in Cuba with about 7% of the known nickel reserves and arguably more as funding shortages have constrained exploration. Cuba used to produce about 90-100 kilotons/year of nickel in the 1990s, but it currently produces only about 60kt/year of nickel. It is the largest resource industry in the country

With a 0.8% increase over the past day, the price of Chinese primary nickel was the biggest mover, closing at CNY 108,600 ($17,481) per metric ton on Friday, December 26. The price of Chinese 304 stainless steel scrap was unchanged at CNY 9,850 ($1,586) per metric ton. For the fifth consecutive day, the price of Chinese 316 stainless steel scrap held flat at CNY 13,350 ($2,149) per metric ton. The price of Chinese 304 stainless coil continues hovering around CNY 17,750 ($2,857) per metric ton for the fifth day in a row. The price of Chinese 316 stainless coil held steady at CNY 23,700 ($3,815) per metric ton.

For the fifth consecutive day, the price of Chinese ferro-chrome held flat at CNY 10,950 ($1,763) per metric ton. The price of Chinese ferro-moly remained essentially flat at CNY 90,000 ($14,487) per metric ton.

* Get the complete prices every day on the MetalMiner IndX℠

The Indian nickel cash price fell 0.8% to INR 978.60 ($15.41) per kilogram. The nickel 3-month price flattened at $15,305 following two-days of declines on the LME. Following two days of downward movement, the nickel spot price held steady at $15,250 per metric ton on the LME.

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