The three-month futures price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) surged by US$173/ton yesterday (January 21), closing at US$18,395/ton, and the spot price also soared by US$178/ton to US$18,349.5/ton.

The average nickel price of this month has reached US$17,825/ton, higher than the US$16,823/ton in December 2020.

Meanwhile, LME’s market inventory of nickel decreased by 330 tons to 249,396 tons. The cumulative increase of this month has reached 2,688 tons so far.

According to market participants, the US dollar fell for 4 trading days in a row, the US employment data had a better performance, and China’s stainless steel prices continued to rise, so the nickel price surged again. The short-term nickel prices were expected to move steadily.