Nickel Heads for Second Weekly Drop on Stockpiles;
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel headed for a second consecutive weekly decline, dropping to a nine-month low, as stockpiles of the metal rose, expanding supply. Lead, zinc and copper also dropped.
Inventories of nickel tracked by the London Metal Exchange grew 330 metric tons to 15,138 tons, the exchange said today in a daily report. Stockpiles have risen fivefold since Feb. 6, when they were at a 15-year low.
``The continuation of inventory rises eased concern about tightness\'\' of supply, Michael Jansen, a metals analyst at JPMorgan Securities Ltd., said today in an interview in London.
Nickel for delivery in three months on the LME dropped $1,200 a ton, or 4 percent, to $28,700 a ton as of 3:44 p.m. local time, heading for a weekly decline of 5.8 percent. The contract earlier fell to $28,550, the lowest intraday price since Oct. 5.
The metal, which is mostly used in stainless-steel production, has slumped 41 percent since trading at a record $51,800 a ton in May, partly as steel users delayed purchases. It fell 13 percent last week alone.
NIA Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Not Held
