Nickel, tin hit fresh all time highs amid dwindling supplies
Source: AFX
metalsplace.com
Nickel and tin hit unprecedented highs as LME stocks fell again on the day.
Nickel has since backed off slightly alongside falls in most other industrial metals as a volatile week in markets worldwide comes to an end.
LME nickel for 3 month delivery hit a high of 48,500 usd earlier in the session, but retreated to 46,900 usd at 1.33 pm compared with yesterday's close of 47,100 usd.
Tin was up to 13,850 usd from 13,775 usd yesterday.
Nickel stocks stored in LME certified warehouses worldwide fell by 30 tonnes to 3,564 usd on the day, leaving less than a day's worth of the metal available to the market.
Tin inventories fell by a hefty 195 tonnes to 9,250 tonnes, said the LME in its daily report.
"It's the end of a long emotional week. Volumes (traded) this morning are a lot lower than they have been of late," notes RBC Capital Markets analyst, Alex Heath.
He explained that with a high level of investors in the market, fuelling prices to high premiums, "a technical correction is healthy."
Nickel has hit new highs for most of this week with analysts calling for a test of the 50,000 usd level in the near future. However, some have pointed to a possible dip in demand which could ease prices.
"More and more anecdotal evidence indicates signs of demand resistance to high prices suggesting that a ceiling can't be far away," said UBS analysts.
Tin prices rose as falling daily stocks outweighed reports that Indonesia, the world's second largest tin producer, pledged to maintain annual supply of 90,000 metric tons in a bid to stabilise prices.
Indonesian output in 2007 will be 28 pct lower than the 125,000 tonnes produced last year, said tin industry organisation ITRI.
In other metals, aluminium was down at 2,777 usd against 2,790 usd, copper was down at 6,500 usd against 6,540 usd, and lead was down at 1,887 usd compared with 1,915 usd at yesterday's close. |
