Foreign news on January 12, the London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel prices hit a more than 10-year high on Wednesday, copper prices exceeded $10, 000 per ton, due to reduced inventories and renewed supply concerns.
Easing concerns about economic growth in China, a major consumer of metals, also boosted industrial metal prices.
17:00 London time (01:00 Beijing time on January 13th)), LME three-month nickel rose $270.00, or 1.24%, to settle at $22064.00 per ton. Intraday trading hit $22745 a tonne, the highest level since August 2011.
Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at (Saxo Bank), a Danish bank, said nickel took the lead and the rally seeped into copper and other metals.
The surge in nickel prices was partly due to speculators buying back short positions, brokerage Marex said in a report.
"the focus around China is shifting from concerns about a slowdown in the property sector to growing signs that the government will provide stimulus and support to the economy, some of which will benefit industrial metals," Hansen added.
Shanghai Nickel hit a record high in intraday trading on Wednesday. The main two-month nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at 162340 yuan per tonne, up 3.8 per cent.
LME nickel stocks have halved in the past five months to 99462 tonnes, the lowest level since December 2019, while nickel stocks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are close to the record low of 4455 tonnes set in August 2011.
LME spot nickel rose to $192 a tonne from three-month nickel, the highest level since October 2019, indicating a recent tight supply.
For other metals, LME copper for delivery in three months rose $344.50, or 3.54%, to settle at $10064.00 a tonne.
Tin for delivery in three months hit a record high of $41600 a tonne, closing at $41402 a tonne, up 2.36 per cent.
