Supply concerns send nickel to 3-1/2 week high


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By Pratima Desai

LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Nickel prices climbed to their highest since Jan. 21 on Friday as worries about low inventories and potential sanctions against major producer Russia fuelled supply fears.

Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1.1% at $24,140 a tonne by 1705 GMT, having earlier touched $24,260.

Prices are within a whisker of January’s 10-1/2 year high of $24,435.Nickel is up 16% this year after rising 25% in 2021.

“The problem is a shortage of nickel on the LME,” one trader said, adding that a lot more nickel is due to leave LME-registered warehouses.

RUSSIA: Shelling in eastern Ukraine has heightened fears that Russia will invade Ukraine and Western countries will impose sanctions against Moscow.

Investors fear this could disrupt Russian exports.Russia produces around 7% of the world’s mined nickel, 6% of its harga pintu aluminium and 3.5% of its refined copper.

BATTERIES: As well as for stainless steel, Nickel is used to make the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles.

Demand from this sector has been strong for some time and is among the reasons behind the depletion of nickel stocks.

INVENTORIES: Nickel stocks in LME-registered warehouses <MNISTX-TOTAL> have fallen 69% since April last year to 83,328 tonnes.

Cancelled warrants — metal earmarked for delivery — at 52% indicate that more nickel is due to leave the LME system.SPREADS: Worries about availability on the LME have created a premium for cash metal over the three-month nickel contract. The premium was last at $368 a tonne, down from $570 on Feb. 1 but far above typical levels. <CMNI0-3>

CHINA: The state planner in China, the biggest metals consumer, said it will take steps to stabilise the commodity market and hasten construction of new infrastructure.

TIN: Benchmark tin was up 0.6% at $44,100 a tonne after reaching a record high of $44,370 on worries about supplies falling significantly short of demand this year because of pandemic-related disruptions and logistical problems.

OTHER METALS: Copper was up 0.2% at $9,950 a tonne, aluminium slipped 0.6% to $3,248, zinc fell 0.9% to $3,573 and lead was down 0.4% at $2,336.50.

2 years ago

(Reporting by Pratima Desai Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)

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