Nickel posts best quarter in nine years

Nickel posted its best quarterly performance since 2010 as investors expect Indonesia’s year-end ban on exports of raw ore to tighten supply.

The metal used in stainless steel and batteries surged after Indonesia said on September 2 that the ban on nickel ore exports will take effect January 1, two years earlier than previously announced. That will remove as much as 350 000 t of the metal from global supply, the International Nickel Study Group has said.