London Metal Exchange, "Nickel Trading Suspended for One Day"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The London Metal Exchange (LME) in the UK announced that it will suspend trading for a day, judging the unprecedented surge in nickel prices, which hit an all-time high, as abnormal.

According to AFP on the 8th (local time), the LME stated in a press release, "Due to the unprecedented overnight surge in nickel prices, we will suspend nickel trading for at least the remainder of today." It added, "We are also considering whether to suspend trading for several days depending on market conditions," and emphasized, "We are actively planning to reopen the nickel market and will announce the mechanism as soon as possible."

Earlier, according to Bloomberg, nickel prices on the LME surged by 111% intraday the previous day, reaching an all-time high of $101,365 per ton (approximately 125 million KRW). The price surge was driven by concerns over production and supply constraints from Russia, a major nickel-producing country, due to its invasion of Ukraine, as well as buying pressure from some institutional investors.

Meanwhile, according to JP Morgan, about 10% of the world's nickel is produced in Russia, and Russian nickel producer Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) supplies 15-20% of the world's battery-grade nickel.

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