LME Nickel Surged to New Highs amid Intensifying Russia-Ukraine Conflicts

SHANGHAI, Feb 24 (SMM) - News of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to take military actions in the Donbass region has sparked turmoil in the commodities markets. US dollar index recorded a gain of 0.49%, USD/RUB also surged by 3.6%, while EUR/RUB rose above 95 for the first time since December 2014. COMEX gold advanced 1%, and Brent crude kept rising with an increase of nearly 4% in the day trading. Intraday nickel and aluminium futures have been moving all the way up. Among them, LME nickel refreshed the high seen in May 2011, while SHFE nickel rose touched an intraday growth of 2.67%.

As of the closing of the mourning trade, SHFE nickel jumped 1.09%. As supplies of nickel and aluminium from Russia take up a larger share in the global supply landscape, the war-induced supplies have had greater impacts on these two metals. For nickel, pure nickel supply from Russia accounts for more than 15% of globe. If the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine affects commodity exports, then nickel prices are expected to surge further.