Nickel prices have risen for three consecutive trading days. The futures price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose by US$145/ton last Friday (May 7), closing at US$18,082/ton, and the spot price also hiked by US$140.25/ton to US$18,052.5/ton.

LME futures prices of nickel increased US$408 in total last week, a hike of 2.3%, which have risen for three weeks in a row.

The current average nickel price of this month has reached US$17,870/ton so far, higher than the US$16,507/ton in April.

Meanwhile, LME’s market inventory of nickel continued sliding by 522 tons to 269,986 tons. The cumulative decrease in May has reached 2,058 tons so far.

According to market participants, nickel prices continued hiking as the US dollar kept weakening, China’s stainless steel futures and spot prices surged, and the market inventory decreased. In the short term, nickel prices were expected to move firmly.