The three-month futures price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) soared by US$1,070/ton to US$15,880/ton yesterday (August 8th). The highest in intraday sessions was US$16,690/tons, and the spot price also surged by US$1,042/ton to US$15,844/ton.

Meanwhile, LME’s market inventory of nickel ended the falling trend and increased by 126 tons on August 8th, reaching 142,032 tons. The cumulative decrease in August was 1,596 tons.

According to market participants, the sharp increase in nickel price was due to the news about the Indonesian ban on raw ore exports to be implemented ahead of schedule, lower production of nickel ore, and tight supply worried by Chinese mills.