Morning Bites (part 3)

🔗CISA mills' daily crude steel production during early January was reported at 2.02mnt, up 21.2% from the previous ten days and +4.9% YoY. Meanwhile, local steel inventories rose 16.5% over the same period (-3.3% YoY). In our view, Beijing's efforts to bolster the economy via the real estate sector might boost local steel consumption in 2024, supporting steel products prices. To recap, China represents ~57% of global steel production

⛏First Quantum is suspending operations at its Ravensthorpe nickel mine for two years, as the asset was loss-making in 9mo23, the company reports. Operations are expected to resume in 18-24 months, once Ravensthorpe’s stockpiles have been sold. Although the mine produced 30kt last year (~1% of global Ni supply), it is to keep selling the metal’s inventories. Hence, the positive impact on nickel prices might be rather limited, in our view

#steel #nickel
https://metals-wire.com/news-reports