Interesting Read
According to Bloomberg:
Nickel Advances for Second Day in London Amid Supply Squeeze
By Marianne Stigset
________________________________________
Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel climbed in London for a second day as declining inventory and production disruptions intensified a squeeze on supply of the metal used in stainless steel.
Inventory stored in London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses fell 222 metric tons, or 3.2 percent, to 6,816 tons, the LME said today in a daily report. Stockpiles have dropped 81 percent this year. A production expansion plan by the Indonesian unit of Inco Ltd., the world's second-largest nickel maker, will be postponed, Investor Daily Indonesia reported today.
``Essentially the world has run out of nickel and the day- to-day trading we've seen reflects that,'' Nick Moore, a London- based analyst at ABN Amro Holding NV, said in an interview. Moore has been a metals analyst for 22 years.
Nickel for delivery in three months on the LME rose $350, or 1.1 percent, to $31,700 a ton as of 10:35 a.m. in London. The metal has more than doubled this year. It traded at $32,625 on Oct. 20, the highest in at least 19 years.
PT Inco, Indonesia's biggest nickel producer, expects to raise production by 200 million pounds (90,719 tons) by 2010 instead of 2009 because of construction delays, Investor Daily said, citing the Jakarta-based company's President Director Arif Siregar. Global nickel use will rise 7.2 percent this year to 1.38 million tons, beating production by 5,000 tons, UBS AG said in a report yesterday.
Aluminum dropped $1 to $2,789 a ton on the LME. Copper increased $10 to $7,390 and lead was up $11 to $1,628. Tin slipped $150 to $10,100 and zinc climbed $53 to $4,273.
To contact the reporter on this story: Marianne Stigset in London at mstigset@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 1, 2006 05:40 EST