The LME nickel futures rose greatly by US$534 last Friday (May 5), closing at US$24,531/ton. The spot price also hiked by US$485, reaching US$24,447/ton.
The current average price of nickel in May is US$24,551/ton, higher than the US$23,878/ton in the previous month.

At the same time, the LME-monitored nickel inventory increased by 480 tons, coming to 40,110 tons. The inventory has increased by 192 tons since this month.

The US’ latest non-farm payrolls rose month on month in April, better than expectations. The weakening US dollar and historically low inventory of refined nickel drove iron ore prices to rise.

However, market participants said the nickel supply would be surplus due to the newly added production capacity. Besides, the current demand is not strong enough to digest all production. Therefore, the short-term nickel price was expected to fluctuate.