London, 18 March 2022 (TDI): Nickel prices soar as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues. Russia is one of the world’s top exporters of many metals including aluminum, copper, steel, and, nickel.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) was forced to shut down nickel trading amidst rising prices. A few days after the Russia and Ukraine conflict began nickel prices hit an all-time high jumping from $24, 282 per ton on the 28th of February to $80,000 per ton on the 8th of March, showing an increase of 62%.

This is the second time the London Metal Exchange has been forced to shut down nickel trading, the first of which took place on the 8th of March, following an unprecedented increase in prices.

The LME said that it’s facing pressure from metal traders as it canceled $3.9 billion in a trade last week from Russia. Rising metal prices resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have caused short squeezes amongst buyers.

Nickel prices have soared to a massive $100,000 per ton, showing an increase of 250%. The LME justified the shutting down of the market by saying that the short squeeze caused a systematic risk to the market.

Many metal traders are looking to leave the LME as frequent shutdowns are greatly hampering their business prospects if the exchange doesn’t stabilize the market soon.

While metals including nickel continue to rise in price as the conflict continues other commodities are also at risk, particularly energy and agriculture, the European Trade Federation has called on central banks for assistance to support the gas and power markets throughout Europe.

Ukraine’s wheat export is extremely important for the entirety of Europe, the loss of Ukrainian wheat has caused price hikes globally, African countries and least developed nations that are highly dependent on Ukraine’s wheat will suffer the most, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

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