Nickel Seen Extending Rally Into 2015 by CLSA on Ore Stocks Fall
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Nickel, the best-performing base metal this year, may extend its rally into 2015 as China’s output of nickel pig iron will drop amid dwindling stockpiles of higher-quality raw material, according to CLSA Ltd.
China’s production of NPI, a lower-grade alternative to the refined metal, may fall to 300,000 metric tons in 2015 from 410,000 tons in 2014 and 485,000 tons in 2013, said Ian Roper, Singapore-based commodity strategist at CLSA. The country’s inventory of Indonesian laterite ore is now down about 61 percent from a peak in January, he estimates.