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View all search resultsNickel, aluminum prices hit record highs on Ukraine attack
Prices of the two metals hit their highest levels in more than a decade on Thursday.
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PT Vale Indonesia's nickel mine in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, in this undated photo. After being transported to trucks, nickel material in the form of land is placed in a temporary shelter, then put into a factory to be processed until it gets a matte nickel of 78 percent, and is exported to Japan. (JP/Ruslan Sangadji)
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luminum and nickel prices hit their highest levels in more than a decade on Thursday after key producer Russia launched a military attack on neighboring Ukraine.
Aluminum prices jumped as high as US$3,382.50 per ton, beating the previous peak of $3,380.15 reached in July 2008 during the global financial crisis.
The industrial lightweight metal, which is used in a variety of items including drinks cans and aircraft components, later pulled back to $3,372.50 per ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
"The rise of the aluminum price was to be expected once Russia attacked Ukraine," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann told AFP.
"Market participants clearly fear that aluminum supply from Russia will be affected in case of severe sanctions by the West and – probably – retaliatory measures by Russia."
The base metal was already trading at elevated levels owing to stretched global supplies of the base metal, particularly from China.
Meanwhile, nickel forged $24,610 per ton in trading Monday -- the highest level since 2011. The metal is a key component in stainless steel and electric car batteries.
Russia is one of the world's largest producers of nickel plus other key commodities such as oil, aluminum and palladium.
The industrial metal later cooled to stand at $24,380 per ton on the LME, a gain of one percent compared with late Friday.
Marex broker Al Munro said nickel was "benefiting from the threat to Russian production" in an already tight market with demand up as economies reopen from pandemic lockdowns.
Nickel's price has jumped 18 percent since the start of the year.
"The Ukraine crisis continues to hang over metals prices," said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann.
However, he cautioned that aluminum and palladium prices had not risen to the same extent as nickel.
"The nickel market still appears to be very tight" with stockpiles falling, Briesemann said.
