Thanks to a bull market and intensive production scheduling of stainless steel mills, the NPI (nickel pig iron) production was with strong momentum both in China and Indonesia, totaling 156,500 tonnes in metal content (the same below, unless otherwise stated) in July, with a month-on-month (MoM) growth of 2.24% and a year-on-year (YoY) jump of 22.34%, according to Mysteel survey. Specifically, the production of mid and high-grade NPI stood at 148,800 t, up 2.15% MoM and 24% YoY.
Source: Mysteel
China's NPI production recorded 32,400 t in July, indicating a monthly increase of 2.9% and an annual growth of 8.09%. The production of mid and high-grade NPI was 25,900 t, rising 2.48% from June but falling 11.03% compared with last year.
Source: Mysteel
The momentum was partly due to rising NPI prices, which bottomed out and reached Yuan 1,100-1,120/mtu (tax included, doorstep delivery). Since the real-time profits of NPI plants returned to the positive territory, they resumed normal production, especially those in Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu and South China, and most of which were integrated stainless steel mills.
Source: Mysteel
The NPI production in Indonesia came in at 124,100 t in July, an increase of 2.07% MoM and 26.7% YoY, based on Mysteel survey of 44 NPI projects that involve 206 BF/EF/RKEF production lines, with 3 newly coming on stream in the month. The production of mid and high-grade NPI was 122,900 t, up 2.08% MoM and 27.13% YoY.
Source: Mysteel
The production growth in Indonesia was driven by a large smelter resuming normal production, in addition to some new capacities in the process of ramping up.
It is expected that the total NPI production would record 156,600 t in China and Indonesia in August, up 0.08% MoM and 22.68% YoY. The production of mid and high-grade NPI is estimated at 148,700 t. In detail, the production is projected at 33,100 t in China and 123,500 t in Indonesia.
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
