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Nickel Prices Gain as Inventory Drops the Most in Three Weeks

By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel rose on the London Metal Exchange after stockpiles monitored by the bourse fell the most in three weeks, cutting reserves in warehouses to less than two days of global consumption.

Nickel inventory dropped 312 metric tons, or 4.9 percent, to 6,078 tons, the exchange said in a daily report. Stockpiles of the metal used in stainless steel have plunged 83 percent this year and reached their lowest in 15 years in July.

``The metal supply isn't plentiful,'' Tony Warwick-Ching, a nickel analyst at London-based metals consulting company CRU, said today by telephone.

Nickel for delivery in three months gained $445, or 1.7 percent, to $27,400 a ton as of 10:11 a.m. local time. The contract has more than doubled in the past year, trading at $29,950 a ton Aug. 22, the highest since at least 1987.

Stainless steel production will expand 20 percent in the second half from a year earlier, Warwick-Ching said.

Among other metals, copper for delivery in three months on the LME rose $41, or 0.6 percent, to $7,490 a metric ton. Earlier it traded at $7,186, the lowest since Aug. 17. The metal has doubled in the past year and traded at a record $8,800 on May 11.

Stockpiles of copper dropped 0.5 percent to 123,325 tons, the LME said. That's less than three days of global consumption.

Zinc gained $65 to $3,405 a ton and lead fell $5 at $1,360. Tin slipped $20 to $8,975 and aluminum increased $14 to $2,484.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at [email protected]

Last Updated: September 21, 2006 05:17