Bearish supply fundamentals and a high London Metal Exchange three-month price continue to spark debate in the nickel market, but while Citi maintains that the much-lauded electric vehicle (EV) metal is its least-preferred for medium-term investment, a quick turnaround in Chinese economic recovery is providing green shoots for physical demand, analyst Oliver Nugent told Fastmarkets.
"We can't help but have nickel as our least-preferred long position for the medium term due to the market's bearish supply backdrop," Nugent said on Friday September 18. "And there is a lot of debate about how it is that a market can rise through what otherwise looks like multiple views of very weak physical balances."The LME three-month nickel price was most recently trading around $14,695 per tonne on Monday September 21, up 31% from the year-to-date $11,142 per tonne low on March 23 while LME...