SMM Daily Review - 2011/11/2 Nickel Market

SHANGHAI, Nov. 3 (SMM) -- On Wednesday, LME nickel prices recovered partial of the ground lost on Tuesday after opening at USD 18,700/mt during the Asian trading hours and hit a high of USD 19,080/m due to support from weaker US dollar. Investors still concerned over perspective of the European debt crisis, weighing down on market sentiment. It is expected that market sentiment will not improve to great extent in the short term. LME nickel inventories were 86,538 mt, down 138 mt. Jinchuan Group cut ex-works nickel prices by RMB 2,000/mt to RMB 138,000/mt on Wednesday.

In the Shanghai nickel spot market, affected by Tuesday’s LME nickel price slump, Jinchuan Group cut ex-works nickel prices on Wednesday. In response, spot nickel prices fell significantly. Traded prices of nickel from Russia were in the RMB 136,300-136,800/mt range, and traded prices of nickel from Jinchuan Group were in the RMB 138,500-139,000/mt. Traded prices were relatively lower in the morning trading hours, but rebounded in the afternoon trading hours along with LME nickel price increase. Overall trading sentiment was still sluggish in spot nickel market. Downstream demand was soft, and traders lacked interest in making transactions due to weak performance of LME nickel prices.