On February 20, the nickel futures at the London Metal Exchange (LME) hiked by US$261 and closed at US$15,665/ton. Meanwhile, the spot price soared by US$269/ton to settle at US$15,453/ton. During the same day, the nickel inventories at LME rose greatly by 1,728 tons and reached 192,180 tons.

Despite the continuous increase in LME nickel inventory, a nickel plant in Indonesia is facing a shortage of nickel ore due to unforeseen circumstances, which disrupted ferronickel shipments and further drove up prices. Meanwhile, the US and China might potentially reach a new trade agreement, which might weaken the US dollar, further boosting nickel prices. In the short term, nickel prices are expected to remain strong.