The launch of a probe into financial irregularities at China’s Port of Qingdao in June brought nickel inventories at Asia-registered LME warehouses up 94,000 tonnes during June-November, 3-fold higher than the growth of 29,000 tons during January-May, according to SMM data.
Hence, the impact from Qingdao’s metal fraud is believed to be one of major reasons behind high LME nickel inventories, prompting a shift from China’s bonded zones to LME Asian warehouses.
Nickel inventories also grew at LME European warehouses, meanwhile. From June to November, stocks added 27,000 tonnes, compared with a drop of 5,000 tonnes from January to May.
This suggests that waning global consumption, resulting from concurrent economic weakness, is also blamed for continuous increases in LME nickel inventories.