Nickel falls for 7th session as supply fears ease
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BEIJING — London nickel prices extended
losses into a seventh session on Tuesday, hitting levels last
seen before Indonesia confirmed in September it would expedite a
ban on nickel ore exports to the start of 2020.
Prices for the metal used to make stainless steel had fallen
sharply in the previous session after the Southeast Asian
country said it had allowed some companies to resume nickel ore
exports until the end of the year, after halting shipments on
Oct. 28 due to export rules violations.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NICKEL: Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange
fell as much as 0.8% in early trade to $15,440 a tonne,
the lowest since Aug. 23 and stood at $15,500, as of 0207 GMT,
having dropped 3.9% in the previous session.
* SHFE: The most traded February nickel contract on
the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 3.2% to 120,900
yuan ($17,286.00) a tonne, the lowest since Oct. 23.
* SHFE STOCKS: Nickel inventories in warehouses tracked by
the ShFE on Friday rose to their highest since the
week ended June 1, 2018 at 30,831 tonnes, easing worries that
supply is tight.
* NICKEL: Indonesia has allowed nine companies to resume
nickel ore exports after inspections into reports of ore export
rules violations, Heru Pambudi, the director general of the
country’s customs office, said on Monday.
* COPPER: Three-month copper LME copper inched up
0.1% to $5,885.50 a tonne, after ending down 0.8% on Monday.
ShFE copper slipped 0.2% to 47,150 yuan a tonne.
* COLUMN: Funds are starting to turn more bullish on copper
– Andy Home
* SCRAP: A push to ease restrictions on high-quality scrap
copper imports into the world’s biggest metals consumer China
may run into “technical obstacles,” Antaike, the research arm of
the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said on
Monday.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian share markets got off to a sluggish start on Tuesday
amid uncertainty over both the Sino-U.S. trade talks and the
domestic political situation in Hong Kong.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0930 UK Claimant Count Unem Chng Oct
0930 UK ILO Unemployment Rate Sept
1000 Germany Zew Economic Sentiment Nov
1000 Germany Zew Current Conditions Nov
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0207 GMT
Three month LME copper 5885.5
Most active ShFE copper 47140
Three month LME aluminum 1783.5
Most active ShFE aluminum 13845
Three month LME zinc 2490
Most active ShFE zinc 18650
Three month LME lead 2090.5
Most active ShFE lead 15780
Three month LME nickel 15500
Most active ShFE nickel 121410
Three month LME tin 16520
Most active ShFE tin 136260
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 645.59
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -384.53
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 -1182.6
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1345.19
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -3875.23
($1 = 6.9941 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Aditya Soni)
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