Nickel Soars Past $100,000 - LME Halts Trading “The London Metal Exchange (LME) has halted nickel trading for the day after prices doubled to a record $100,000 per tonne, fuelled by a race to cover short positions after Western sanctions threatened supply from major producer Russia, Reuters reports.
The rare move underscores the market panic created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with buyers scrambling for the metal crucial for making stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries.
‘The LME has taken this decision on orderly market grounds,’ said the LME, one of the world’s top commodity exchanges, adding it was considering a closure of several days.
‘The LME will actively plan for the reopening of the nickel market, and will announce the mechanics of this to the market as soon as possible.'
The move came after three-month nickel on the LME more than doubled on Tuesday to $101,365 a tonne this morning before the LME halted trade on its electronic systems and in the open outcry ring.
The uncertainty caused by Russia’s invasion and resulting sanctions has added to an already bullish nickel market due to low inventories.
Nickel prices have quadrupled over the past week on fears of further curbs on supply.
Russia not only supplies about 10% of the world’s nickel but Russia’s Nornickel is the world’s biggest supplier of battery- grade nickel at 15%-20% of global supply, said JPMorgan analyst Dominic O’Kane.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2022/mar/08/nickel-soars-record-commodity-prices-oil-gas-russia-ukraine-ftse-dax-dow-business-live?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-622731438f08527b3685324d#:~:text=The%20rare%20move,analyst%20Dominic%20O%E2%80%99Kane