SMM Daily Review - 2011/10/11 Nickel Market

SHANGHAI, Oct. 12 (SMM) -- On Monday, LME nickel market opened at USD 19,100/mt and closed at USD 19,550/mt, up USD 400/mt from a day earlier, with the highest price at USD 19,550/mt and the lowest price at USD 18,651/mt. On Tuesday, LME nickel prices fluctuated narrowly after opening at USD 19,300/mt during the Asian trading hours. However, LME nickel prices fell sharply during the early European trading hours on stronger US dollar, with prices hitting a low of USD 18,900/mt. Monday’s positive news still failed to boost Tuesday's market sentiment. Investors’ confidence was still fragile and investors remained cautious, with limited transactions reported. 

In the Shanghai nickel spot market, traded prices of spot nickel were mixed on Tuesday, with spot prices tracking LME nickel price movement. During the morning trading hours, offers were relatively high on expectation that Jinchuan Group would raise its ex-works nickel prices, with mainstream traded prices in the RMB 141,500-143,000/mt range. During the afternoon trading hours, trading sentiment was bearish along with decline of LME nickel prices. Traded prices of nickel from Jinchuan Group fell to RMB 141,000/mt and traded prices of nickel from Russia declined to RMB 140,500/mt. Price spread between Jinchuan nickel and Russian nickel narrowed to certain extent during the first two post-holiday trading days, which was mainly due to limited supply of Russian nickel and ample supply of Jinchuan nickel.