The London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel futures continued to climb on March 28, driven by a weaker US dollar, strong Chinese stainless steel futures, and firm nickel ore and ferronickel prices. A sharp drop in LME nickel inventory further supported the price increase.

Nickel prices have risen for two days in a row last week, closing at US$16,380/ton on March 28, up by US$133, and the spot price also rose by US$135.5 to US$16,169/ton.

Nickel prices totally hiked by US$323, an increase of 2.01%, last week, and the increase has reached US$947 so far this month, a hike of 6.1%. So far this year, prices have climbed by US$1,052, a growth of 6.87%. The average price in March was US$16,071, significantly higher than the price in the previous month.

Meanwhile, LME nickel inventory increased by 996 tons to 200,304 tons, and the monthly increase reached 5,340 tons, a rise of 2.7%.

Despite strong cost support and inventory drops, downstream buyers are still cautious about their purchases and expect nickel prices to experience short-term volatility.