Will a call via social media for "more nickel" give a jolt to the electric vehicle (EV) revolution that has been stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic? Or will suppliers find themselves unable to fulfil the dreams of entrepreneur Elon Musk?
The three-month price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange has jumped by 6% since Musk, chief executive officer of EV producer Tesla, made a public plea for global nickel miners to produce more metal.
LME nickel futures jumped by 4.5% in a day on July 23 to close at $13,689 per tonne, up from $13,080 per tonne on July 22, and then hit a $13,865 intraday high on Monday July 27, following
Musk's initial plea for more efficient and environmentally friendly nickel units.
Subsequent nickel turnover on the LME reached its highest since March, with more than 12,500 lots exchanged by the close on July 27. This was clear evidence of the influence wielded by Musk and, consequently, of the EV narrative on the price of nickel - from a speculative standpoint.
And a fresh message from Musk via social media platform Twitter on...