nickel supply

Norilsk Nickel has no stockpile sales
Bloomberg
LONDON – OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest nickel producer, has no stockpiles to supplement sales this year, adding to a shortage of immediate supplies of the metal used to rustproof steel.
Norilsk Nickel will produce between 242,000 and 245,000 tonnes of nickel this year, little changed from the 243,000 tonnes it produced last year, Dmitry Usanov, head of investor relations, said by telephone from Moscow.
“We already sold 70,000 metric tonnes of extra stocks during 2003 and 2004,” Usanov said. “Now we have only enough to supply to our customers.” Nickel for immediate delivery on the London Metal Exchange traded at $16,795 as of 4.44pm local time (10.44pm Bangkok time), $750 more than metal for delivery in three months. The gap was $800 on Thursday, the widest since the early 1990s, according to Deutsche Bank.