MUMBAI (Scrap Register): India major nickel scrap prices gained on the Scrap Register Price Index as on Tuesday, while nickel futures prices at India's Multi Commodity Exchange ended up as investor sentiment picked up after the strong consumer confidence number in the US saw Trump worries fade.
According to the Scrap Register Price Index, the major nickel scrap commodities like Nickel Plate(4x24), Nickel Plate(9x9) and Nickel Russian(4x4) showed an up trend on Tuesday.
In futures, the most active March nickel contract on Multi Commodity Exchange up by 1.73 percent to Rs. 648.10 per kilogram on Tuesday from previous close of Rs. 637.10 per kilogram. The MXC nickel prices touched an intra-day high of Rs. 648.80 per kilogram and an intra-day low of Rs. 631.50 per kilogram during Tuesday.
The Philippines said it would allow miners who had been ordered shut on environmental concerns to export stockpiled material. The permission is aimed at limiting the potential build up of silt in nearby waters, an official with knowledge of the order said, rather than the government toning down its campaign.
The volume of nickel ore stocks from the mines may well exceed 1 million tons, or about a month's worth of consumption by top buyer China, said the official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The total would likely be less than 5 million tons. 
More than half of all mines in the Philippines have been ordered to permanently shut to protect watersheds in an eight-month campaign led by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez.