Nickel storms to 10-year peak on worries about supplies
LONDON - Nickel prices surged to their highest in a decade on Wednesday as investors bet automakers will have to scramble to secure supplies for their electric vehicle batteries as inventories dwindle.
Nickel was the top performer among industrial metals, which also rallied as worries eased about economic growth in top metals consumer China.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange jumped as much as 4.4% to $22 745/t, the highest since August 2011. It had pared gains to $22 610 by 11:30 GMT, up 3.7%.
"The battery king nickel has been the initial driver, breaking above that $21 000 level, gapping higher, and now the rally is filtering through to copper and the others," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.
"The focus in China is moving away from worries about the property sector slowdown to increased signs that they are going to provide stimulus and support to the economy, some of which will benefit industrial metals."
In China, nickel prices leapt to a record high, with the February contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ending daytime trading 3.8% higher at 162 340 yuan ($25 510) a tonne.
A Singapore-based trader said that inventories were running low partly due to restocking by Chinese stainless steel mills.
Comments
The
functionality
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
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