LME nickel held near more than two-month highs due to strong demand and falling inventories

(LME) nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange remained near a two-month high on Monday, as demand from the electric vehicle battery industry pulled down inventories in LME registered warehouses.

17:00 London time (01:00 Beijing time on January 11th)), LME three-month nickel rose 65 dollars, or 0.31 percent, to settle at $20799.00 a tonne, having hit $21165 a tonne last week, the highest level since Nov. 24.

Analysts at ING said: "Nickel stocks in LME warehouses are decreasing because they can be used to produce nickel sulfate for electric vehicle batteries."

Demand for electric cars is particularly strong in China, where Volkswagen (Volkswagen), GM, Toyota and Tesla are all ramping up production.

Nickel stocks in LME warehouses are 99954 tonnes, down about 62 per cent since April 2021, according to exchange data released on Monday.

Nickel write-off warehouse receipts account for 49% of the total inventory, indicating that more metal nickel will be released from the warehouse in the future.

Concerns about nickel supply in the LME market caused spot nickel to rise $125 a tonne from three-month nickel, an one-month high.

Production cuts in Europe due to soaring electricity costs are expected to push aluminium prices higher. Aluminium prices hit $2980 a tonne on Friday, the highest since Oct. 21.

Aluminum for three-month delivery rose $17, or 0.58%, to settle at $2931.50 a tonne on Monday.

Aluminium stocks at LME warehouses are 911500 tonnes, down more than 30 per cent since mid-September.

Copper prices came under pressure after the opening of trading in New York as the dollar was driven higher by expectations of a Fed rate hike. Some Wall Street banks have raised their forecasts for the rate at which the Fed will raise interest rates this year, supporting the dollar's rise.

Copper for delivery in three months fell $83.50, or 0.87%, to settle at $9563.50 a tonne.