Nickel retreats as traders await clarity on potential coordinated output cuts
NIC•Nickel fell 1.95% to $15,805 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as traders awaited details of potential Indonesian production cuts. Nickel Industries said producers at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park would coordinate cutbacks but gave no figures.
1. Nickel prices fall
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.95% to $15,805 per metric ton, giving back most of Wednesday’s gains. The most-traded November contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 2.22% to 119,460 yuan per ton.
2. Cut plans uncertain
Chinese producers in Indonesia were considering halving output of mixed hydroxide precipitate used in electric-vehicle battery chemicals and cutting nickel pig iron by 20%, but no final decision had been reached. Nickel Industries said producers at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park would coordinate cutbacks without specifying their scale or timing.
3. Inventories weigh
Traders remained sceptical that the cuts would materialise, while high inventories and weak demand were limiting a rebound, Chinese broker Galaxy Futures said. LME nickel stocks stood at 280,674 tons on Wednesday, and SHFE warehouse stocks were 106,648 tons as of October 16. The International Nickel Study Group forecast a small global surplus this year, reversing an earlier deficit forecast.
