Nickel heads for 7th straight drop as supply concerns ease
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BEIJING — London nickel prices fell for a
seventh straight 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 have
fallen sharply this week after the Southeast Asian country said
it had allowed nine companies to resume nickel ore exports until
the end of the year. It had halted shipments on Oct. 28 due to
export rules violations.
China, the main purchaser of Indonesian nickel ore, produced
13,960 tonnes of refined nickel in October, down 6.8% from
September but 2.2% higher than a year earlier, analysts at
research firm Antaike wrote in a note.
“Recent weak economic data (is) likely to remain a headwind
for commodity markets,” ANZ said, noting that China’s credit
growth had slowed more than expected in October.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NICKEL: Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange
slipped as much as 1% to $15,410 a tonne, the lowest
since Aug. 23 and stood at $15,455 as of 0734 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 3.5% to 120,500
yuan ($17,228.81) a tonne, the lowest since Oct. 23 before
closing down 2.5% on 121,750 yuan.
* 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.
* OTHER METALS: Three-month copper LME copper rose
0.4% to $5,904 a tonne, after ending down 0.8% on Monday after
the weak Chinese lending data, while ShFE copper ended
flat on 47,270 yuan a tonne. London zinc added 0.5% and
lead rose 0.7%.
* MARKET NERVES: Besides nickel, other LME metals “have made
ground this morning but the complex as a whole is nervous,”
Malcolm Freeman, director of UK-based Kingdom Futures, said in a
note.
* 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 said on Monday.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian share markets edged higher and Europe looked set to
follow as investors awaited a speech by President Donald Trump
on U.S. trade policy and on news he will likely delay a decision
on whether to slap tariffs on European autos.
PRICES
BASE METALS PRICES 0734 GMT
Three month LME copper 5902
Most active ShFE copper 47260
Three month LME aluminum 1777
Most active ShFE aluminum 13815
Three month LME zinc 2507.5
Most active ShFE zinc 18810
Three month LME lead 2104
Most active ShFE lead 16015
Three month LME nickel 15460
Most active ShFE nickel 121750
Three month LME tin 16550
Most active ShFE tin 136310
BASE METALS ARBITRAGE
LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 689.39
LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -334.2
LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 -1139.52
LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1191.99
LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 -3088.94
($1 = 6.9941 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Aditya Soni and Shailesh
Kuber)
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