Nickel price

2022 - 3 - 8

LME nickel - Nickel

Shanghai exchange will take further measures amid overseas nickel ... (CNA)

HONG KONG : China's Shanghai Futures Exchange said on Tuesday it will take further measures to account for market conditions amid nickel price volatility in ...

Advertisement They had also reached a limit up of 15per cent in early trade on Tuesday. Advertisement

LME nickel trading unlikely to resume before 11 March (Argus Media)

The pressure from brokers to meet those calls caused the dramatic spike in the LME nickel price throughout yesterday and the early hours of today. Three-month nickel prices on the LME more than doubled in Asian trading today to a record high above $100,000 ...

Trading was suspended as of 08:15 GMT today, and the exchange cancelled all nickel transactions that took place after 00:00 GMT.

To reopen, the LME expects to set limit-up and limit-down maximums for all nickel contracts at 10pc on either side of the closing prices on 7 March. Given these limits, the LME said it is "possible that the market may take more than one day to reach a stable" price.

More strikingly, the LME is exploring mechanisms to reduce the volume of short positions, as well as positions participants "wish to exit as soon as possible on the resumption date." While some considered suspending all buying activities after the sharp rise in prices yesterday, other large processors were able to buy more material than anticipated today.

In the nickel cathode market, traders either stayed on the sidelines or sold against premiums while agreeing to negotiate final prices at a later date.

Most expect the LME nickel prices to decrease, potentially significantly, once trading resumes and the short squeeze is resolved.

By Blake Hurtik

Three-month nickel prices on the LME more than doubled in Asian trading today to a record high above $100,000/t after increasing by over 60pc yesterday to a high of $46,850/t, the highest since 5 June 2007.

LME pause throws markets into disarray

The halt in LME nickel trading created widespread uncertainty in markets that use the benchmark price as a basis for determining daily values such as for stainless steel scrap.

US market participants proceeded by quoting stainless steel scrap prices based on the prior day's closing price.

Chinese metals tycoon faces steep losses on nickel price surge (Financial Times)

The London Metal Exchange suspended trading in one of its main contracts after a vicious “short squeeze” sent the price of nickel soaring and left a Chinese ...

LME Halts Nickel Trading After Unprecedented 250% Spike (Bloomberg)

The London Metal Exchange suspended trading in its nickel market after an unprecedented price spike left brokers struggling to pay margin calls against ...

Nickel price spike, LME trade halt presage extended nickel deficit (S&P Global)

A spike in nickel prices that forced the London Metal Exchange to suspend trading March 8 exposed underlying tightness in nickel supplies that may get worse ...

You have shorts who have not been able to deliver on their margin calls, and that has just been self-reinforcing in the price. Russian nickel producer PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel produced 238,875 tonnes of nickel in 2020, accounting for about 9.8% of the world's nickel supply, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Stocks continued to fall as Russia prepared for and launched its invasion of Ukraine, dropping month over month by 11.6% as of Feb. 22, according to Commodity Insights. Fears of a reduction in global nickel supplies drove short sellers to try and cover their bets, leading to a record nickel price of $100,000 per tonne, which triggered the metal exchange to suspend trading. Global sales of EVs rose 106.8% in 2021, according to Commodity Insights. Automakers are already struggling with high material costs, and nickel was expensive before the invasion.

Nickel Price Spike Sparks Margin Call Fears (finews.asia)

A sharp surge in nickel prices triggered margin call fears at the London Metal Exchange which suspended trading after prices doubled in hours.

«The current events are unprecedented,» LME said in a notice. «The suspension of the nickel market has created a number of issues for market participants which need to be addressed.» Three-month nickel on the LME more than doubled to over $100,000 a ton yesterday before the LME stepped in to halt trading of the metal.

Why is nickel up? Dramatic price increase sparks LME trading halt ... (Fast Company)

The base metal's price has skyrocketed with a spike that led the London Metal Exchange to halt trading.

(While Russia also supplies a significant percentage of the world’s aluminum, that metal has seen nowhere near the buying frenzy, and even lost more than 7% Tuesday.) One ING commodities strategist described the nickel market as “absolutely insane” to Reuters: “The fundamentals alone won’t be able to explain these prices.” Another pointed a finger at Tsingshan as a catalyst. Nickel is also historically the most volatile of the metals. But it might’ve been less surprising to somebody watching the evolving Russia-Ukraine conflict, who is also knowledgeable about the geopolitics of metal.