that is the best production mre ever had.......will come good soon...........
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Australian miners say China nickel demand strong
Thursday October 20, 2005, 2:52 pm
PERTH, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australian nickel miners say demand from China has shown no signs of flagging despite a slowdown in Europe, with producers receiving regular inquiries for the steel-hardening metal that they cannot provide.
Minara Resources Ltd. (ASX: MRE.ax) and Mincor Resources Ltd. (ASX: MCR.ax) , which together produce about 50,000 tonnes of nickel a year, said they were receiving up to two inquiries a week from potential Chinese buyers, although production was already committed to long-term contracts.
"The commodity boom is still the China story," Minara Chief Executive Peter Johnston said on the sidelines of a nickel conference.
"In nickel, there has been a slowdown in Europe, particularly in stainless steel, but China is soaking up the world supply.
Minara was getting "a couple of inquiries a week" for nickel, particularly for briquettes as they were easy to transport.
Prices for nickel -- which gives stainless steel its shine and stops it from rusting -- nearly tripled to more than $15,000 a tonne MNI3 since 2001, but have fallen back in recent weeks to around $12,500 a tonne on steel production cutbacks.
Minara's 60 percent-owned Murrin Murrin laterite nickel plant, which has been hit by a series of shutdowns, was now operating at 90 per cent of design capacity, an annualised rate of 36,000 tonnes of nickel a year and its best rate so far.
Mincor Chief Executive David Moore said he was receiving one or two inquiries a month from Chinese nickel buyers, despite all of his company's annual 13,000 tonnes of material being pre-sold to BHP Billiton Plc/Ltd. (ASX: BHP.ax) BLT.L under a long-term contract.
"Demand is still very strong," Moore said, adding he expected the price of nickel to stay high for some time.
"It had been expected that if the price rose, production would increase to meet demand. But that's not happening because demand is so strong."
MRE Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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