SHANGHAI, Jul. 20 (SMM) -- LME nickel for delivery in three months opened at USD 24,100/mt and closed at USD 23,770/mt on Monday, down by USD 380/mt from a day earlier, with the highest price at USD 24,215/mt and the lowest price at USD 23,625/mt. LME nickel prices largely moved stably after opening at USD 23,850/mt during the morning trading hours on Tuesday, and advanced to be above USD 24,000/mt on weaker US dollar in the afternoon trading hours. LME nickel prices still failed to make significant breakthrough, with prices largely fluctuating around 5-day moving average and testing sustainability at USD 24,000/mt. LME nickel inventories were down by 768 mt to 101,586 mt.

In the Shanghai nickel spot market, price spread between Russian nickel and Jinchuan nickel further narrowed. Mainstream traded prices for nickel from Jinchuan Group were in the RMB 174,500-174,800/mt range, and traded prices for nickel from Russia were in the RMB 174,200-174,500/mt range. The lowering domestic/LME nickel prices ratio was not favorable for nickel imports, so supply of Russian nickel was limited. In this context, prices of Russian nickel were relatively firm and Russian nickel was well received in the market. In contrast, sales of Jinchuan nickel were not optimistic amid current unclear price trend. Overall trading sentiment was quiet. Volatile LME nickel prices triggered wait-and-see sentiment from traders, and downstream demand was still soft.