The nickel price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) reached an all-time high of $101,350 per ton today (March 8), up 110.80%, RT reports. Since the beginning of 2022, nickel prices have increased by 388%.
Investors are concerned that nickel supplies on the world market may become tight due to international sanctions against Russia, which is one of the world’s largest nickel producers. This leads to panic buying to fill up the warehouses.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), Russia is the third largest nickel exporter in the world. By 2021, Russian nickel exports amounted to 250,000 tons, representing 9.25% of global nickel production.
“The stock market rush with the price of nickel is caused by fears of a shortage of the metal in the event that there are interruptions in shipments from Russia, which is a major global supplier, due to logistical or financial problems, as well as potential new sanctions from the West,”
Aleksey Kalachev analyst at Finam told TASS
In addition, the Russian miner Norilsk Nickel is the largest nickel producer in the world with a 20% share.
This would be a major blow to the promotion of electric vehicles, as nickel is an essential element in batteries for electric vehicles. If nickel prices rise, prices for electric vehicles could ultimately rise as well.
Traders and companies are currently giving Russian commodities a wide berth. This is currently driving up prices. Now the US government wants to impose an import ban on Russian oil. If the import ban is extended to other raw materials, not only crude oil prices but also commodity prices will continue to rise.