Nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange gained momentum during morning trading on Friday June 22, edging 1.9% higher while copper, lead and tin prices also found support.
Edging back over $15,000 per tonne, nickel's three-month price topped the broadly positive trading across the complex, despite a strong appreciation in the US dollar dampening sentiment.Continuous outflows in nickel inventories also contributed to price rises, with total LME stocks at 274,476 tonnes today, its lowest count since March 2014. The metal's wide contango is also spurring spot activity, with its current cash/three-month spread at $84 per tonne, the widest since October 2017. "The latest figures from the International Nickel Study Group (INSG) reflect bullish underlying fundamentals; the refined market stood in a 52,600-tonne deficit in January-April 2018." Metal Bulletin analyst James Moore said. "In addition, the INSG expects the market to record a deeper 117,000-tonne deficit in 2018 than the 53,000-tonne deficit forecast in October,...