Rotterdam in-warehouse nickel cathode and briquettes premiums plummeted in the week to Tuesday October 1 while Shanghai in-warehouse and cif premiums continued descending amid the widest ever backwardation in the London Metal Exchange cash/three-month nickel spread.
European premiums hit two-to-three-year lows with an unprecedented wide backwardation in the cash/three-month nickel spread causing panic selling at significantly lower levels Chinese discounts hit record highs with ongoing arbitrage losses and persistent spread backwardations heaping pressure on sellers, forcing frenzied stock liquidationUS premiums continue to hold on thin spot activityLME backwardation, scant demand plummets Rotterdam premiumsThe widening backwardation in the cash/three-month nickel spread - trading at its widest in over 12 years - and incredibly thin demand drove Rotterdam nickel premiums down to almost three-year lows. Fastmarkets assessed the nickel uncut cathode premium, in-whs Rotterdam at $80-100 per tonne in the week to October 1, down by 56% from $190-220 per tonne the previous week, while the nickel briquette premium, in-whs Rotterdam was assessed at parity on the same date, down...