Spot nickel trades picked up as SHFE nickel fell below 100,000 yuan/mt

SHANGHAI, Apr 22 (SMM) – Spot nickel trades in east China’s Shanghai were brisk on Wednesday morning, as Shanghai nickel futures suffered a second straight day of steep losses amid a relentless plunge in oil prices.

The most active nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for June delivery dived more than 4% to an intraday low of 96,560 yuan/mt in morning trade, and traded at 97,400 yuan/mt, near the 40-day moving average, as of 13:37 Beijing time.

As oil prices continued their historic plunge, nonferrous metals fell across the board on Wednesday, and nickel was the worst performer. International benchmark Brent crude futures extended its decline to its lowest level since June 1999 at $15.98 per barrel.

SMM assessed 1#refined nickel at 97,200-99,300 yuan/mt on Wednesday morning, down from 100,500-102,200 yuan/mt the day before.

Russian nickel was quoted at discounts of up to 50 yuan/mt against the SHFE June nickel contract in Shanghai spot market in the morning, and the discounts were 100 yuan/mt narrower than the previous day.

Meanwhile, Jinchuan nickel was quoted at premiums of 1,200-1,300 yuan/mt, up from 800-1,000 yuan/mt on Tuesday, propelled by the tumble below the 100,000 mark in nickel prices and supply shortages of Jinchuan nickel in Shanghai.