Nickel prices rose to a record high for the 4th consecutive day in London as stockpiles of the metal plunged thus increasing speculation that supply would not meet demand. Nickel for delivery in 3 months reached an intraday high of USD 47,890pt. Nickel inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange fell by 5.8% to 3594tns, which is less than two days of global consumption. The main driver behind a higher consumption of nickel is the increase in global stainless steel production with China overtaking Japan as the world’s largest stainless steel producer in 2006.
