Nickel and Chrome ore production decline 20% in 2014
Albanian Minerals President and CEO Sahit Muja said: Worldwide nickel and chrome ore production has decreased near 20 percent in 2014 do lower price and high costs .
Nickel, chrome ore and ferrochrome sector had been energised in December as reserves are being depleted in China, Europe, U.S. and Japan.
The price of nickel, ferrochrome and chrome ore, which is used in the making of stainless steel, has been on a roller coaster ride in 2014.
"Nickel, ferrochrome Chrome ore prices is expected to reaching new heights in 2015. Chrome ore inventories are at the lowest levels in five years. China export 90 percent of global chrome ore and concentrate exports". Sahit Muja said.
Shanghai Metals Market the leading provider of metals information in the country said there was a high likelihood that nickel ore inventories at five of China’s major ports will be gone by April 2015.
Chinese output of a cheap alternative to nickel ore, nickel pig iron, is being sharply curtailed by the government. The crackdown is due to its new-found seriousness about pollution.
In the world’s two biggest economies, stainless steel production is rather robust in 2014. In China, stainless steel output was up 17% in the first half of this year, while even in the United States, stainless steel output during the same period was up 16%.
China's biggest stainless steel mill TISCO hiked NPI prices by 25 percent due to tight supply after Beijing sought to clear its skies ahead of an international conference in October, ordering plants to temporarily shut.Three month nickel on the London Metal Exchange had climbed to USD 17,200 a tonne its highest since September
Global ferrochrome price rose near 5 percent on December; Chrome ore prices also increased $10 per ton in December.
The ferrochrome alloy is a key ingredient in manufacturing stainless steel giving it strength, weight, rust protection and it's characteristically muted shine.
Sahit Muja said, "China doesn't have chrome reserves to produce ferrochrome. China now worlds largest ferrochrome producer is in need to accelerated chrome ore imports to produce ferrochrome".
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