Nickel weakness21 Jul 2014 11:01
as much as I am a bull of MWA, to show balance in posts...note the continued fall back in Nickel....
Nickel Touches Three-Week Low as Indonesia Exports Some Ores
By Alex Davis
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel extended drops to a three- week low after Indonesia resumed some exports of metal ore concentrates and as stockpiles tracked by the London Metal Exchange surged to a record.
The metal for delivery in three months on the LME fell as much as 0.9 percent to $18,500 a metric ton, the lowest price since June 25, and was at $18,528 at 3:10 p.m. in Hong Kong.
Nickel fell for a sixth day, the longest such run of losses since January.
Two Indonesian miners agreed to pay an export tax and have shipped iron, lead and zinc concentrates, R. Sukhyar, director general of coal and minerals at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said in Jakarta July 18. Nickel is up 33 percent this year, the most among the six main metals on the LME, as the largest miner of the metal banned exports of unprocessed ores in January. LME inventory for the metal rose to a record 311,088 tons on July 18, according to bourse data.
The market is optimistic that some nickel ore will also be exported from Indonesia, Chae Un Soo, a metals trader at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Ltd., said by phone from Seoul. “The stocks being at the highest level is also easing concerns about the Indonesian export ban.”
China’s nickel-ore imports from Indonesia rose 3.8 percent to 40,367 tons in June from May, the first increase since January, according to customs data released today.
Copper in London gained 0.1 percent to $6,993 a metric ton after falling 2.4 percent last week, the most since March. In New York, futures for September were little changed at $3.1835 a pound, while the contract for the same month dropped 0.4 percent to close at 49,550 yuan ($7,983) a ton in Shanghai.
On the LME, aluminum declined, while zinc, tin and lead were little changed.
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