The three-month futures price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) soared by US$466/ton on April 28), closing at US$17,429/ton, and the spot price also greatly rose by US$481/ton to US$17,410/ton.

Meanwhile, LME’s market inventory of nickel slid largely by 750 tons to 262,458 tons. The cumulative decrease in April has reached 2,214 tons so far.

According to market participants, nickel prices surged as China’s stainless steel inventory was being continuously consumed, and higher futures prices stimulated demand for nickel, which decreased nickel inventory. Therefore, nickel price was expected to keep stable in the short term.