Savtin Above $18000ton pig iron profitable so the pon may well find support there in the short term.
This artical from China Business News
Nickel shortage
One of the main reasons limiting over-expansion in China's stainless steel sector is the country's insufficient nickel supply, a major raw material for stainless steel production.
"The Indonesian government is very likely to release policies banning primary laterite ore exports, and only allowing exports of processed ore or finished nickel products, in June next year. Although we do expect a six to 12-month buffer period before the policy takes effect, the policy will eventually make China's nickel ore procurement more difficult," Jiang Xinfang from Qingshan, said.
China mainly imports laterite ore from Indonesia, New Caledonia and the Philippines.
Xu from Antaike said that China's apparent consumption of primary nickel (including nickel pig iron, nickel salt and electrolytic nickel) will reach 340,000 tons this year, with average nickel metal shortages set to reach 100,000 tons per year between 2008 and 2011, leaving the country no choice but to rely on imports.
China's primary nickel output is expected to surge 53.8 percent from last year to 221,000 tons this year, a large proportion of which will come from nickel pig iron production, which is due to triple to 95,000 tons over the year. However, China will still need to import 152,000 tons of nickel metal this year, Xu said.
Increased nickel pig iron production has to some extent alleviated China's dependency on nickel imports. China started large-scale pig iron production in reaction to high nickel prices in 2005. However, using nickel pig iron instead of nickel for stainless steel production is only profitable if nickel prices remain above $18,000 per ton.
China still has the potential to expand nickel pig iron production, with a large number nickel mining projects due to come online after 2009, bringing approximately 400,000 tons of nickel on to the domestic market, including CVRD-Inco's Goro project, BHP Billiton's Ravensthorpe project and China's MCC Ramu project in Papua New Guinea.
end
I think in the short term some weakness in the pon but whether it finds $18000 only time will tell.
Sold out on takeover rumor a couple of weeks ago at .75 happy to sellout after holding for 4yrs i will buy back in 55c-60c. Bought 100k CQT a gold stock with hugh upside i recommend you DYOR.
dewy
AGM Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: ST Sell Disclosure: Not Held
