Global nickel and copper supply/demand were in deficit over the January-April 2022 period, whereas aluminum, tin, and zinc were all in surplus, World Bureau of Metals Statistics said June 16.
The nickel market recorded a deficit of 51,700 mt over the first four months, following a 146,900 mt deficit for all of 2021 and a 46,100 mt deficit in Q1 2022.
Refined nickel production from January to April was 867,800 mt, against demand of 919,500 mt, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS).
Total mined nickel production for the period increased by 58,000 mt year on year to 882,700 mt, the data showed.
During the same period, smelter/refinery output in China fell 16,000 mt year on year, while apparent demand rose by 34,000 mt year on year to 481,300 mt.
Indonesian smelter/refinery production during the four months increased by 16% to 321,100 mt.
World apparent nickel demand increased by 52,000 mt year on year, WBMS said.
LME nickel stocks were 27,200 mt lower at the end of April compared with the end of 2021, but 2,400 mt higher than the end of March, according to the exchange.
S&P Global Commodity Insights evaluated spot battery-grade nickel sulfate minimum 22% nickel, maximum 100 ppb magnetic material at Yuan 42,600/mt ($6,348.73/mt) DDP China on June 16, which is 25.7% higher since the start of 2022.
Copper Deficit
The copper market showed a deficit of 409,000 mt in the first four months of 2022, compared with a deficit of 473,000 mt for the whole of 2021 and a deficit of 189,000 mt for the first quarter of 2022, WBMS said.
World copper output dropped 0.7% year on year to 6.88 million mt for the January-April period, while the volume of refined copper grew 1.1% year on year to 8.1 million mt due to a 161,000 mt increase in China.
Total world demand for January-April increased by 5.7% year on year to 8.54 million mt, and China-based apparent demand grew 4.4% to 4.6 million mt, while China's semi-finished copper products reported output down 0.9%.
Production of refined copper in the US fell by 22,000 mt to 305,800 mt, WBMS said.
Copper stocks were 115,500 mt above December levels and 21,000 mt higher than the end-of-March figures.
Other Base Metals
During January-April, there was a surplus in the primary aluminum market of 400,000 mt, which had a deficit of 1.8 million mt for 2021, WBMS said.
Primary aluminum demand for the period fell by 750,000 mt year on year to 21.9 million mt, while production rose by 0.5%.
Total primary aluminum stocks as of the end of April were down 417,000 mt from the end of December 2021 level at 833,000 mt.
Zinc was in surplus by 76,600 mt from January to April, and lead was in deficit by 82,000 mt, WBMS said.
