A workers' strike at Vale's Sudbury nickel mine, in the eastern Canadian province of Ontario, is now in its second week, but would have to continue for at least a month before nickel premiums would rise in the United States, according to most market sources consulted by Fastmarkets this week.
They were considering the effect on cut cathode premiums, especially.
Vale Canada is North America's main producer of nickel although just two sizeable nickel producers on the continent supply the US market, sources said.
Fastmarkets assessed nickel premiums in the United States
flat week on week on Tuesday June 8, although Vale customers were already reported to be concerned about getting their contracted supplies.
Sudbury produces almost half of Vale's Canada-origin nickel. It contributed 43,200 tonnes of the 214,700 tonnes of refined nickel that Brazil-based Vale, the world's biggest nickel miner,
produced in 2020.