Nickel miner reports 2nd shipment to China completed

Marcventures Mining and Development Corp. announced Wednesday it has completed its second shipment of high-grade nickel ore. “The company has shipped out around 54,578 wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore to China," company assistant corporate secretary Ana Katigbak said in a statement. From the company’s causeway in Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, the shipment was loaded on the MV Bao Success on Sept. 12. According to the company, the ore is estimated to have a minimum grade of 1.8 percent nickel. The contracted price for the shipment is about $70 per WMT, consistent with China’s demand for high-grade nickel ore. The company’s first shipment to China was on Aug. 20, when it delivered around 20,000 WMT of nickel ore to a processing plant in China. Spot prices of high-grade nickel ore shipments to China hit $70 per WMT, from $55 WMT. According to the report, nickel pig iron has gained wide acceptability as a good substitute to primary nickel when producing stainless steel. The increasing demand for nickel pig iron has made Chinese plants more willing to pay higher prices. China is one of the world’s premiere markets for nickel ore and sources most of its supply from the Philippines and Indonesia. — BC/VS, GMA News