The London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel futures price soared by US$308/ton and closed at US$19,797/ton on May 16. Meanwhile, the nickel spot price also hiked by US$311/ton to US$19,576/ton. The nickel inventory at LME increased by 636 tons to 81,630 tons.

Although the US dollar has rebounded, critical US inflation data has eased, and its job market has stabilized, raising the expectation of FED interest rate cut this year. Interest rate cuts will boost the economy and market demand, thus driving nickel prices to continue to rise.

In addition, the slow approval of Indonesian nickel mines also supported the rise in nickel prices. However, refined nickel inventories increased significantly. Therefore, market participants expect that nickel prices will fluctuate in the short term.