Rise in Indonesian export standards for nickel ore to affect China
Shanghai. May 13. INTERFAX-CHINA - Indonesia, a major nickel ore trading partner with China, is to raise nickel ore export standards as of 2014, Shanghai-based nonferrous metals industry portal smm.cn (Shanghai Metals Market) reported May 12.
According to an anonymous source cited in the report, ores with a nickel content of less than 6 percent will no longer be exported, beginning 2014.
Indonesia is a major exporter of nickel laterite, a rich source of nickel ore, in particular high grade nickel laterite, grading 1.8 percent. China imported 12.2 million tons of nickel ore and nickel concentrate from Indonesia in 2010, accounting for approximately 50 percent for China's total nickel import volume in the year.
Smm.cn analyst Wang Haoyang told Interfax that Indonesia not only hopes to protect its domestic resources with the move, but also to encourage overseas investors to set up nickel processing plants in Indonesia, rather than purchasing low-grade ores and processing them on their home soil.
"It may be difficult for Indonesia to strictly adhere to the new regulation, however, as nickel processing requires large amounts of energy and the country commonly suffers from power shortages," Wang said.
Wang warns China's smelters to monitor the situation closely. "If successful, other major nickel exporters such as the Philippines may also follow suit."
-KHM