CORRECTED-China October nickel ore imports from Indonesia jump 23.4% as ban nears

(Corrects timeline of Indonesian nickel ore export ban in
paragraph 5)
* China Oct. nickel ore imports at 6.85 mln tonnes
* Shipments from Indonesia rise 23.4% to 3.11 mln tonnes
* Nickel pig iron imports at 168,835 tonnes in Oct.

BEIJING, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China's nickel ore imports from
Indonesia surged 23.4% in October from the previous month,
customs data showed on Monday, as Chinese buyers continued to
stock up ahead of a ban on exports from top miners from January.
China imported 6.85 million tonnes of nickel ore and
concentrate last month, according to the General Administration
of Customs data. That was down 3.9% from 7.13 million tonnes in
September, but up 23.2% from 5.56 million tonnes a year earlier.
Nickel ore is mainly used in China to make nickel pig iron,
a raw material for stainless steel production. China's nickel
pig iron imports in October fell 18.9% from September to 168,835
tonnes, customs data showed. Imports jumped 85.8% from 90,859
tonnes a year earlier.
Nickel ore shipments from Indonesia were 3.11 million tonnes
in October, compared with the 2.52 million tonnes in September
and surged 132.1% from 1.34 million tonnes a year earlier.
The last high was recorded in January 2014 when the export
ban on Indonesia ore initially came into effect.
The restriction was relaxed in early 2017 and exports were
allowed to resume on a quota basis according to progress on
smelter developments. However, a complete ban is expected to
come into effect from January 2020.
The expedited ban prompted a scramble to ship ore out of
Indonesia, with Jakarta imposing a temporary ban on shipments
late last month after discovering violations of export rules.
It has since allowed nine companies to resume exports until the
end of the year. Indonesia shipped 8.85 million tonnes of nickel ore and
nickel products in October, up slightly from 8.79 million tonnes
in September, according to the Southeast Asian country's
statistics agency.
"The decline of nickel ore imports last month was mainly
driven by Philippines as it has entered rainy season," said Fu
Zhiwen, analyst from Huatai Futures.
China's imports of nickel ore from the Philippines, an
alternative source of supply but with lower-grade ore, came in
at 3.38 million tonnes last month, down 23% from 4.39 million
tonnes in September and 4.01 million tonnes in October 2018.
"The world may face 120,000-180,000 tonnes of shortage of
the metal after Indonesia ban in early 2020," Fu said.