LME nickel prices more than doubled on Tuesday, forcing exchanges to suspend trading in nickel, which is used to make stainless steel and electric car batteries, while aluminium prices fell from record highs.
17:00 London time (01:00 Beijing time on March 9th)), LME copper for delivery in three months fell 0.71%, or US $72.50, to close at US $10209 a tonne.
LME three-month nickel surged 66 per cent to $80000 a tonne when trading stopped, after surging to a record $101365 at one point.
Nickel prices rose on fears of supply delays and logistics problems caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia accounts for about 10 per cent of global demand for nickel and about 6 per cent of global demand for aluminium.
"there is nothing more to say about the market tightening that has led to these unprecedented price fluctuations," said Al Munro of Marex, a brokerage. Obviously, bears cannot provide the necessary physical support for their positions. "
LME was forced to suspend nickel trading and invalidate some of the deals. The LME announcement said it would cancel all nickel trades executed on or after 00:00 UK time on over-the-counter and LME select screen trading systems and would postpone delivery of all spot nickel contracts scheduled for delivery on March 9.
The buying spree pushed metal prices higher in early trading, with zinc futures rising to a record $4896 a tonne, lead up as much as 9.4 per cent and tin futures rising to a record $51000 a tonne.
"the market is crazy," said Wenyu Yao, senior commodity strategist at ING. These prices cannot be explained by fundamentals alone. "
Aluminum for LME three-month delivery fell 6.47% to $3498 after hitting a record high of $450,0734.50 in the previous session.
In an effort to maintain market stability, LME has also imposed headlines and delivery delays on physically settled base metals contracts, citing the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and tight supply in the market.
Nickel stocks in LME registered warehouses are 75012 tons, the lowest level since 2019. Aluminium stocks are at their lowest level since 2007, at 779350 tonnes.
