Nickel price rebounds

As 3-month nickel on LME rose by USD450/t from USD28,450/t this Tuesday to USD28,900/t, nickel market in China moved up slightly after continuous decrease from late last week. However, most traders do not hold optimistic attitudes towards the market. They are watching and waiting for a clearer market trend.

A trader in Shanghai quotes nickel of Norilsk brand and Jinchuan brand at RMB239,500/t (USD34,312/t) and RMB240,000-241,000/t (USD34,384-34,527/t) respectively, rising by RMB1,500/t (USD215/t) compared with the prices in the previous day. However, they sold nickel of Jinchuan brand at RMB240,500/t (USD34,455/t). The source revealed that the demand keeps stable presently and the supply of the material is not tight. The source said, “We sold 23t of nickel of Jinchuan brand, and the demand from consumers remains steady. We still hold around 30t of the material in total at hand, and we are reluctant to replenish the stock, as we still remains unclear about nickel market in China and the prices keep volatile presently.”

The source still holds a pessimistic attitude towards nickel market in China and expects that the market may go down further if nickel price on LME continues to fall in the near future.

Another trader in Shanghai offers RMB242,000/t (USD34,670/t) and RMB241,000/t (USD34,527/t) for nickel of Jinchuan brand and Norilsk brand, around RMB2,000/t (USD287/t) higher than the prices this Tuesday, but they failed to conclude deals at the quoted prices. “We still hold a small quantity of the material at hand, and we dare not purchase a lot at present, due to the volatile market. We will keep watching the market, expecting the market may not move down; otherwise, we may consider transferring to other trading,” the source reported.

The source thought that nickel market in China remains unclear and it’s a bit difficult to make a prediction. However, the source revealed that nickel market may not rise greatly in the following days.