Nickel prices bounced back on Monday after two sessions of losses as industrial consumers bought metal to guard against further price gains.
Nickel prices had shed 7 percent by Friday’s close since touching a two-year peak of $13,030 a tonne at the start of the month.
The rally in nickel, which has gained 23 percent this year, was driven by hopes that growth in electric vehicles would boost demand for the metal in batteries. Nickel is currently mainly used to produce stainless steel.
“We’re seeing good consumer hedging activity,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, Partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan.
“The consumer side got very scared over the last two months after the summer price rally. They are pretty willing to hedge as soon as possible in order to avoid being trapped again.”
