SHANGHAI, Feb 9 (SMM) - The domestic refined nickel output in January dropped 1.5% on the month and increased 37.24% on the year to 16,400 mt. According to SMM research, mainstream refined nickel enterprises worked in shift during the CNY holiday to ensure normal production. Therefore, the output did not drop sharply in January. In addition, some refined nickel enterprises have increased the production to ensure downstream rigid demand in 2023. Coupled with high premiums of refined nickel against nickel sulphate, some new electrodeposited nickel production lines based on nickel sulphate have been scheduled for production in early January.

The domestic refined nickel output in February is expected to increase 3.05% on the month and 30.8% on the year to 16,900 mt. The capacity of new electrodeposited nickel production lines was released only slightly in January and will be fully put into production in February.