Metals-Nickel rises on concerns over sulphur supply via Hormuz
XLB•Copper and other base metals mostly firm
Copper was steadier, helped by weaker U.S. inflation data and hopes of a more dovish stance from the Federal Reserve. It was also supported by supply worries and recent withdrawals from LME warehouses.
The metal rose 0.27% on the LME CMCU3 and dipped 0.23% on the SHFE SCFcv1.
U.S. producer prices posted their biggest decline in 14 months in June, data released on Wednesday showed, adding to a string of U.S. reports that have cooled expectations for Fed interest rate hikes.
Lower borrowing costs can support metals demand because they tend to help economic activity.
Among other LME metals, aluminium CMAL3 gained 0.68%, zinc CMZN3 rose 0.85%, lead CMPB3 climbed 1.19% and tin CMSN3 firmed 1.35%.
On SHFE, aluminium SAFcv1 was little changed, zinc SZNcv1 lost 0.68%, lead SPBcv1 added 0.38% and tin SSNcv1 fell 1%.
Nickel hits three-week high on sulphur supply concerns
Nickel rose to a three-week high on Thursday as concern over disruptions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz raised fears of sulphur supply shortages, threatening a key raw material for production.
Benchmark three-month nickel CMNI3 on the London Metal Exchange climbed 2.57% to $17,235 a metric ton by 0700 GMT. It was up by as much as 3.14% earlier in the session, marking the biggest increase since May and the highest price since June 23.
The most-traded nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SNIcv1 was up 3.01% at 132,940 yuan ($19,641.85) a ton.
"Sulphur supply tightness expectations are fermenting again. For nickel, this mostly means an upward shift in cost expectations for the high-pressure acid leaching process," analysts from Chinese broker Jinrui Futures said in a note, referring to a process used to extract nickel from ore.
