Discounts for nickel full plate cathodes in the Chinese import market flipped to premiums on Tuesday November 5 following a sudden opening of the import window over the week.
"The intermittent opening of the import window this week was due to technical squeezing on China's future exchanges rather than supply tightness. [Nickel full plate cathodes are] normal premiums now," a Shanghai-based trader said. The Chinese nickel import market has been stagnant since late July and nickel cathode premiums weakened, eventually switching to discounts from late September, due to a backwardation in the London...