Nickel Futures Climb to 1-Month High
2026-04-14 06:06
By
Erika Ordonez
1 min. read
Nickel futures rose to around $17,800 per tonne, hitting a one-month high as cost pressures and supply constraints tightened market conditions.
Jakarta has delivered a series of tightening signals, most recently revising Indonesia’s nickel ore benchmark pricing formula.
The new framework now includes additional metals such as iron, cobalt, and chromium, while also raising the corrective factor used to set minimum ore pricing.
This lifts the cost floor for upstream production, feeding through to higher input costs for smelters and strengthening the global nickel cost curve.
At the same time, supply-side strain in Indonesia’s HPAL sector added to upward pressure.
Sulphur prices have surged above $800 per tonne, prompting some processors to trim output of nickel intermediates used in battery materials, tightening near-term availability.
Overall, steady battery demand and resilient industrial consumption have helped absorb supply concerns, keeping nickel supported at elevated levels.