comments about the nickel price

The Chinese announced on Friday that they had seen a big increase in nickel ore imports (NB Nickel concentrate not nickel) in April up 54% on March. Nickel ore imports for the first 4 months of the year are up almost 10x on the year before and equate to more than the whole of last year’s imports. It tends to suggest that Chinese nickel production is going to increase. Goldman Sachs JB Were reckon it could potentially rise from 2% of global production to 10% of global nickel production. They say it gives them reason to perpetuate their view that the “nickel price will run into surplus this year and that prices will weaken”. They went HOLD from OUTPERFORM on Minara and Jubilee Mines recently.