Nickel (Bloomberg) Nickel Rises to a 19-Year High in London as Inventory Plunges
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel advanced to a 19-year high in London as inventory of the metal used in stainless steel dropped the most in seven weeks.
Stockpiles of nickel tracked by the London Metal Exchange fell 9.8 percent to 6,066 tons, the exchange said today. That's the largest one-day decline since Oct. 13. Supplies may not meet demand before the ``end'' of the decade, said Xstrata Plc, which bought Canadian nickel producer Falconbridge Ltd. in September.
``The challenge of nickel is, how much of this is already in the current price?'' said Jon Bergtheil, head of global metals strategy at JPMorgan Securities Ltd. in London.
Nickel for delivery in three months on the LME gained $264, or 0.8 percent, to $34,214 a ton as of 12:20 p.m. in London, after earlier gaining as much as $350, or 1 percent, to $34,300, the highest since at least 1987. That beats the previous high set on Nov. 27 by $200.
Nickel has more than doubled this year, driven by expanding demand from China and a lack of new production capacity, David Rae, vice president of sales and marketing at Zug, Switzerland- based Xstrata's nickel unit, said in a presentation yesterday. He expects a supply shortage to continue through this decade.
``Under such conditions the nickel price can be expected to remain well above long-term averages,'' Rae said. Nickel has averaged $8,228 a ton since 1987.
Beardmore - Jacobus (SGX)
The Property was discovered in 1947. Inco drilled 9 holes and completed a series of four trenches. In 1957, Jacobus Mining Corporation Limited acquired the property; completed a Geological Survey, a Geophysical Survey and drilled 46 holes. The property was optioned to Chesterville Mines Limited in 1968. Chesterville completed 9 vertical holes to acquire a 75% interest and in 1969 they also conducted electromagnetic, magnetic, geological and geochemical surveys. A.C.A. Howe International Limited estimated the indicated reserves to be 937,538 tons of 0.43% Cu and 0.41% Ni. In 1971 Chesterville Mines Ltd. outlined a deposit of 958,803 tons grading 0.43% Cu and 0.40% Ni. In 1993, SEG Explorations Inc. completed line cutting, geology, geophysics and 11,691 feet of diamond drilling