Fresh Ambatovy woes another reminder of HPAL frailties As the LME nickel price slipped below $13,000 per tonne last week in line with the risk-off sentiment that returned to the complex, this market is finding support from its own fundamentals in the form of still-falling stocks and fresh supply disruptions. On the latter point, we heard of a further 9% downward revision to Ambatovy’s annual production guidance last week, to 38,000-40,000 tonnes. This follows fresh problems, this time a fire at its hydrogen plant. Capacity is officially 60,000 tpy, but it has never managed to hit this operating rate since start-up in mid-2012, averaging ~10,000 tonnes per quarter...
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