Metals rally heats up as nickel hits $24 000 on supply snarls
Base metals are heating up yet again, with nickel reaching $24 000 a ton for the first time in more than a decade and tin notching up a fresh record on supply snarls and China’s monetary easing.
Metals supplies are dwindling amid the global recovery from the pandemic with all the main London Metal Exchange contracts in backwardation -- a condition in which prices for cash delivery are higher than futures -- signaling supply constraints. The nickel market reached its tightest since 2007 after a plunge in exchange stockpiles, which prompted closer monitoring from the bourse.
Nickel jumped further following a 4.9% surge on Wednesday as Chinese lenders lowered borrowing costs for a second straight month after the central bank cut policy loan rates and pledged more easing to spur the economy, which is under pressure from an embattled property sector, a pillar of metals demand.
“In addition to the latest liquidity easing from China, extremely tight metal supply is a key driver of the rally,” said Wang Yue, an analyst with Shanghai East Asia Futures Co. In nickel’s case, “demand from electric-vehicle batteries is so strong that immediate supply can’t keep up,” he said.
in spot news, production at the China-backed Tagaung Taung nickel-processing plant in the Sagaing region in Myanmar was halted this month after electricity was cut off, researcher Shanghai Metals Market said, citing a report from The Irrawaddy. The plant produces 85,000 tons of ferronickel annually and is the largest in the country, according to the report.
Nickel advanced 4% to $24 080 on the London Metal Exchange by 11:57 a.m. in Shanghai, the highest since August 2011. Futures in China surged the daily limit. Tin climbed 2.1% to a record.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
AxFlow AQS Liquid Transfer (Pty) Ltd is an Importer and Distributor of Pumps in Southern Africa
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
