SG:Nickel jumps to 3 month high as steelmakers stock up
Bloomberg reported that Nickel rose to a 3 month high in London as stainless steelmakers the biggest users stocked up on metal amid signs of recovering economic growth. Copper fell.
U.S and European stainless steel producers may restock in the first quarter Goldman Sachs Group Inc said that in a Januaey 24th report. Canceled warrants or orders to remove metal from warehouses almost doubled this month an indication that inventories will start to decline. U.S consumer spending climbed in December as incomes grew the most in 8 year a Commerce Department report showed in Washington.
Mr David Wilson, an analyst at Citigroup Inc in London said that “We might be seeing some restocking by stainless steel mills and consumers. It usually happens at this time of year but there hasn’t been much sign of it until now.”
Nickel for delivery in three months jumped as much as 1.1% to USD 18,575 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange the highest since October 5th and was at USD 18,563 a tonne. Nickel rose 8.3% this month leading gains for the 6 main metals on the LME after being the only 1 to drop last year.
Copper futures dropped 0.1% to USD 3.7475 a pound on the Comex in New York trimming this year’s gain to 2.6%.
Nickel has climbed an average of 4.4% in January for the past 10 years according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Mr Duncan Hobbs, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd in London said that “You see that in a number of the LME traded metals markets that prices can be stronger in the first months of the year and the standard example is nickel. You tend to see higher output on average in the first and Q2 of the year so people need to buy their materials in preparation for that.”
