On October 29, Meidy Katrin Lengkey, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Nickel Miners Association (APNI), warned that planned production cuts by four Chinese-owned nickel smelters in Indonesia will further exacerbate the decline in nickel ore absorption by local miners. Data shows that as of August this year, Indonesia's average monthly nickel ore output was about 22 million to 25 million metric tons (mt), but it has dropped to around 20 million mt over the past two months.
Meidy pointed out that the root cause of the production cuts lies in weak end-use demand and global oversupply. Currently, China, the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), and the London Metal Exchange (LME) are all facing severe inventory buildups. She stressed that against the backdrop of goods "being produced but not bought," smelters have no choice but to cut production to control costs and prevent worsening the global surplus.
