Nickel Exceeds 15% Daily Upper Price Limit

Nickel reportedly exceeded its daily upper price limit on Monday, as traders offered to sell above the 15% limit for the first time since the March debacle.

A disorderly trade on March 8 that pushed nickel prices to $100,000 per ton forced the London Metal Exchange (LME) to cancel all nickel trades on that day and further suspend the market for more than a week. At the reopening, LME imposed the 15% upper and lower price limit and ordered its members not to order beyond the boundaries.

An LME notice also mentioned that failure to comply with the new regulations “may be treated as a breach of the LME Rulebook, and the LME may take disciplinary action accordingly.”

LME further added, “The LME recognizes the operational challenges of this approach for market participants and in the longer term intends to automate order rejection outside the daily limits.”

Nickel Plant Blast Report Shook the Market

Another factor that affected nickel’s price is an unconfirmed report about a blast from a nickel plant in Indonesia.

The report about the supposed explosion came from the Chinese media, which even cited videos from social networks and said there were fire and blasting sounds at a plant owned by CNGR Advanced Material Co.

However, CNGR later clarified that the report “deviates from the truth” and that the plant has been operating without issue since it began the trial production last month.

Tesla-backed Miner Slashes Output

The Goro nickel mine, one of the world’s largest deposits and backed by Tesla Inc, has been forced to cut its production due to a leak from its tailings dam.

In a report, Goro noted that the heavy rains in August caused a “limited release of salt-laden liquid,” adding that the measures needed by the authorities would cut the nickel output for the fourth quarter.

“The corrective measures required by the South Province mean that Prony Resources New Caledonia’s nickel production will be reduced in the fourth quarter,” Goro stated.

“The minimum quantities required by our customer contracts will be met and we expect to be at full capacity again shortly.” Goro added.

Goro declined to give further details as to when its production would be back to normal.