In order to better find out the causes of high fuel consumption and poor drum strength in sintering of limonite-type laterite nickel ore, the sintering production process is analyzed. The results show that the average moisture content of laterite nickel ore before and after drying is high (32% and 26% respectively), and the too fine fuel after crushing (the average mass fraction of -0.5 mm particle size is close to 50%) is the main reason for the high sintering fuel consumption. The granulation effect is limited (the particle size composition of the mixture is basically the same before and after granulation). During sintering, the burning band is too wide (more than 200 mm), which leads to the inconsistent drum strength of the upper layer and the middle layer of the sinter bed (about 44% and 54% respectively). The ore contains high silicon and magnesium, and the main phase of its metallogenic sinter ore is chrysolemenite mineral, which is the main reason for the poor drum strength.