Nickel Industry Annual Report 2017

Contents

Abstract 1
1 Economy and Policy 1
1.1 Indonesia may relax the export ban on mineral ore 1
1.2 Philippines cancels environmental permits of four more mining projects 1
1.3 America conducts AD/CVD investigations on stainless steel flange products imported from China and India 1
2. Company news 1
2.1Philippine minister says mine closures in watershed areas non-negotiable 1
2.2 Jinchuan Advanced Materials Technology reports a net profit of over RMB78 million in 2016 2
2.3 Glencore releases Q1 2017 nickel production report 2
2.4 Tsingshan finalizes cooperation agreement with ERAMET on nickel development 2
2.5 Guoxuan High-Tech jointly with BYD makes a RMB900 million entry into NCM anode materials business 3
2.6 China's Tsingshan eager to build ferronickel complex in North Kalimantan 3
2.7 Axiom Mining releases update on Isabel Nickel Project 4
2.8 Segue Resources releases exploration update on Plumridge Nickel Project 4
2.9 Horizonte Minerals submit Mine Construction License for Araguaia nickel project 4
2.10 Power supply cut off for Luoyang abrasives companies due to stricter environmental protection 5
3. Chinese market review 5
3.1 Prices for nickel cathodes first retreat then up sharply 5
3.2 Ferronickel prices fluctuate slightly downwards 6
3.3 nickel sulfate significantly goes up 7
3.4 Ex-port prices for lateritic nickel ore up first but down again 8
4 International market review 8
4.1 LME nickel prices moves up substantially 8
4.2 Prices for Philippine lateritic nickel ore moves up further 9
5 Production and stocks data 9
5.1 Chinese nickel cathode output down by 5% YOY in 2017 9
5.2 Chinese ferronickel output down by 2.9% YOY in 2017 10
5.3 Chinese nickel sulfate output up by 5.4% MOM in January 10
5.4 Chinese ferronickel smelter lateritic nickel ore stock down by 18.5% MOM in December 10
6 Analysis on Import and export data 11
6.1 China's refined nickel and nickel alloy imports down by 36.9% YOY 2017 11
6.2 China's ferronickel imports down by 33.7% YOY in 2017 11
6.3 Chinese lateritic nickel ore imports down by 9.4% YOY in 2017 12
6.4 China's nickel hydrometallurgy intermediates imports up by 66.8% YOY 2017 13
7 Market outlook 13
7.1 Nickel cathode 13
7.2 Ferronickel 13
7.3 Nickel sulfate 14
7.4 Lateritic nickel ore 14


GRAPHS

Graph 1 Price trend for Jinchuan nickel cathodes in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 5
Graph 2 Price trend for Norilsk nickel cathode in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 6
Graph 3 Price trend for Inco nickel cathode in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 6
Graph 4 Delivered-to-plants prices for Chinese ferronickel 10%min 2016 and 2017 (RMB/mtu) 6
Graph 5 Chinese ferronickel 1.5% EXW prices in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 6
Graph 6 Chinese battery grade nickel sulfate prices in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 7
Graph 7 Chinese NCM 523 precursor prices in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 7
Graph 8 Chinese electroplating grade nickel sulfate prices in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 7
Graph 9 Chinese lateritic nickel ore 1.8%min prices in ports in 2016 and 2017 (RMB/t) 8
Graph 10 Chinese lateritic nickel ore 1.5%min in ports from Dec 2017 to Jan 2018 (RMB/t) 8
Graph 11 LME nickel prices in 2016 and 2017 (USD/t) 8
Graph 12 Stocks for LME nickel in 2016 and 2017 (t) 8
Graph 13 CIF Prices for Philippine origin lateritic nickel ore 1.5% in China in 2016 and 2017 (USD/t) 9
Graph 14 CIF Prices for Philippine origin lateritic nickel ore 1.8% in China in 2016 and 2017 (USD/t) 9
Graph 15 Lateritic nickel ore stocks in China in 2016 and 2017 (kt) 11
Graph 16 China's monthly imports for refined nickel in 2016-2017 (t) 11
Graph 17 China's monthly imports for refined nickel by country from 2016 to 2017 (t) 11
Graph 18 Chinese Imports of nickel ore by country in 2016-2017 (kt) 12
Graph 19 China's monthly imports for nickel hydrometallurgy intermediates in 2016-2017 (t) 13


.Asian Metal Copyright4 Tsingshan finalizes cooperation agreement with ERAMET on nickel development 2 2Asian Metal Copyright