Nickel reaches record high
Strong demand lifts prices, which have jumped nearly 70 percent in just over a year.
Nickel hit a new record high on worries about supplies, while aluminum rose to its best level since last May and copper held firm on expectations of stronger demand from Asia.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange was quoted at $41,100/41,200 a ton.
Exceptionally high demand from stainless steel mills, supply disruptions and project delays have all boosted nickel prices, which have climbed nearly 70 percent since January 2006.
Nickel inventories in LME warehouses stand at around 3,500 tons. But only around 1,880 - half a day's global consumption - are available to the market.
"Nickel pig iron made from low grade ore is bound to find use into Chinese stainless steel production,
"Markets will be watching to see the extent to which [nickel] pig iron will be used ... and to what extent this will impact on the demand of other nickel products
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