Nickel prices averaged USD 19,645 per metric ton in September, 3.9% lower than August’s price of USD 20,446 per metric ton. Meanwhile, the average price for nickel in August was down 13.7% year on year. On 29 September, nickel traded at USD 18,440 per metric ton, down 8.2% month on month.
Prices extended their losses in September as supply conditions remained bearish. Output in top producer Philippines rose 40% year-on-year in H1 and likely remained elevated at the outset of H2, as the global market posted a 28,600 metric ton surplus in July, up from June’s 25,400 metric ton surplus. Meanwhile, subdued industrial activity in Japan, the Eurozone and the U.S. in September likely dented prices further. That said, healthier demand conditions in China capped price losses: In September, the country’s Central Bank lowered the reserve requirement, and the manufacturing PMI posted its first expansion since March.
Nickel LME (prices in US$/mt, aop)
Q1 2021 | Q2 2021 | Q3 2021 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 | Q3 2022 | Q4 2022 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nickel LME | - | - | - | - | 28,348 | 29,018 | 22,105 | 25,581 |