LME nickel futures consolidated above the $18,000 per tonne level in June, building impetus to reach its 2021 peak in the coming quarters, fuelled by loose monetary policies and fiscal measures, followed by a robust recovery in economic activity and vaccination picking up pace across the globe. Nornickel, the world’s leading refined nickel producer, has recently projected a 2021 market surplus of 52,000 tonnes, sharply below its prior forecast of 90,000 tonnes. Aside from the rosier economic outlook, the commodity growing usage in lithium-ion batteries and the accelerated roll-out of electric vehicles has played a crucial role in driving prices higher. Still, fears that top consumer China would take action to curb any further rises in prices of industrial metals have been capping some of the upside momentum seen last month.
Historically, Nickel reached an all time high of 54050 in May of 2007. Nickel - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on June of 2021.
Nickel is expected to trade at 16845.53 USD/MT by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 14722.44 in 12 months time.