Nickel exports to China triple on steel demand
Shipments of nickel laterite ore from the southern Philippines to China more than tripled in April from a year earlier as Chinese companies sought alternative supplies.
Exports rose to 492,002 tons from 144,547 tons, according to Bureau of Customs data obtained yesterday. The southern Philippines mines most of the nation’s low-grade ore, which competes with easier-to-process nickel sulphides.
China’s steel makers have boosted purchases of the harder to process laterite to create nickel for stainless steel for appliances and cutlery. The shift may help reduce nickel prices.
From the Star’s wire services
