London Metal Exchange Nickel Trading Volumes Dipped in July

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest released trade data suggests notable decline in nickel trade volumes on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in July this year. The volume of nickel on the exchange registered significant dip by 40% during the month, when compared with a year before. The metal continued to be avoided by funds, consumers and producers alike.

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The average daily traded volumes of the nickel on LME dropped to 34,962 lots in July 2022, down nearly 42% from July 2021. It must be noted that the nickel volumes had surged higher by 22% and 23% in January and February this year respectively. The exchange had to cancel trades worth billions of dollars after the unprecedented surge in nickel prices on 8^th March. The recent data suggests that the exchange has not been able to regain investor confidence months after the incident.

According to metal traders, the general downtrend in exchange volumes are partly due to the global slowdown. However, nickel is seen carrying an extra burden. The people are still nervous about trading nickel on the exchange. The nickel market is seen becoming more illiquid, as is evident from low volumes and open interest, they noted. The LME contracts no longer represent the nickel market, they added.