RE:RE:LME Ni stockpilesThe reference to reserves in terms of global consumption has nothing to do with how quickly, or indeed if at all, stockpiles will draw down.
It is simply used to used to show how significant stockpiles of a metal are relative to thier global demand which is much more relevant than a simple quantity.
As for how you calculate the number it is rather simple. Global consumption is about 2 200 000 tonnes of nickel a year. Divide that by 52 weeks and you get a weekly consumption of about 42 000 tonnes. LME stockpiles are about 240 000 tonnes, divide that by 42 000 tonnes of weekly consumption and you arrive at a number a little less than 6 weeks consumption. To be clear this is still a very high number , if you look at copper it is less than two weeks consumption, still it's rapidly trending in the right direction.