Trading in nickel resumed yesterday on the London Metal Exchange (LME) after a lengthy pause linked to the Ukraine crisis, but was quickly suspended again after a sharp fall.
Nickel stopped trading having swiftly breached a new 5 percent daily price movement limit to stand at US$43,995 per tonne on the LME.
“Following reopen, the market moved to its limit-down pricing band,” the exchange said in a statement. “We have now halted the electronic market to investigate a potential issue with the limit-down band, and will update the market in due course.”
Photo: Reuters
Nickel, used in stainless steel and electric-vehicle batteries, spiked on Tuesday last week to a then-record high of US$101,365 per tonne on a bad bet from a Chinese billionaire after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, the LME subsequently decided to cancel all trades made that day and halted trading.
That leaves nickel’s record high at US$48,002 per tonne, set on Monday last week.
Moscow’s invasion sparked market chaos last week owing to supply concerns in Russia, the world’s third-biggest nickel producer.
The metal’s price, already soaring, was catapulted even higher by a bad pricing call from Chinese billionaire Xiang Guangda (項光達).
Xiang — owner of the world’s biggest nickel producer Tsingshan Holding Group Co (青山控股) — had bet on nickel prices falling since late last year, but was blindsided by the Ukraine war.
A short squeeze occurs when investors bet on falling prices, but are then forced to close out their positions and purchase at a far higher price, triggering a spike.
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