Nickel scales nearly 5-month high on strong demand, steel prices
July 16 (Reuters) - Nickel prices climbed on Friday to their highest in nearly five months, tracking strong gains in stainless steel, while demand for the metal remained solid amid tight supply.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 2.3% to $19,205 a tonne, its highest since Feb. 25.
The most-traded August nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 3.1% to 142,950 yuan ($22,110.34) a tonne, a level unseen since Feb. 26.
While nickel demand for electric vehicle batteries is forecast to climb in the coming years, stainless steel still accounts for the bulk of the metal's consumption.
Chinese stainless steel futures surged more than 5% to an all-time high on strong consumption and raw material supply crunch, while concerns over output cut in the steel sector also supported prices.
ShFE nickel inventories <NI-STX-SGH> were last at 7,555 tonnes, down 58% year-to-date and tumbling 74% from the same time last year.
Meanwhile, China's nickel cathode output fell 4.4% year-on-year to 79,400 tonnes in January-June, state-backed research house Antaike said, adding output in the second half was expected to reach 88,000 tonnes.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME copper rose 0.1% to $9,495 a tonne, aluminium edged up 0.3% to $2,525 a tonne, and tin jumped as much as 1.4% to $33,590 a tonne, its highest since April 2011.
* ShFE copper advanced 1.2% to 69,380 yuan a tonne, tin hit a record high of 228,500 yuan a tonne, and zinc increased 1.9% to 22,355 yuan a tonne.
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MARKETS NEWS
* Asian shares headed lower as profit-taking in Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, despite record profits, weighed on other tech firms and broader risk sentiment, while a more dovish U.S. rates outlook kept bond yields near multi-month lows.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0900 EU HICP Final MM, YY June
1230 US Retail Sales MM June
1400 US U Mich Sentiment Prelim July
($1 = 6.4653 yuan) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
