February 08, 2016, 10:23 / Business / News

Nickel fell to 2003 levels

Nickel on Monday fell again to its lowest level in almost 13 years on concerns that the reduction in global metal production is not enough to compensate for falling demand in China, Bloomberg reported. China is the world's largest consumer of nickel with a share of more than 50%. The metal is used in the production of stainless steel, the production of which is declining in China.

Quotes for three-month contracts on the LME fell 3.2% to $7,900 per ton during trading, and then corrected upward to $8,155 per ton by 0.40 Singapore time. The LME, which includes six base metals, is down 1% this year, with nickel the worst performer, down 7.5%.

Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong are closed this week to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Since the beginning of 2015, according to LME data, nickel has fallen in price by almost half. Recently, Bloomberg, citing Norilsk Nickel vice-president Pavel Fedorov, wrote that for a positive effect on the market it is necessary to reduce nickel production by 20 to 30%.