(Updates prices, adds details)
By Mai Nguyen
Oct 28 (Reuters) - Nickel prices jumped to their highest
level in nearly one year on Wednesday on supply worries after
the top nickel ore producer in the Philippines suspended
operations at a mine following a coronavirus outbreak.
The Philippines is the top supplier of nickel ore to China,
the world's biggest user of the metal.
The most-traded December nickel contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange (ShFE) SNIcv1 jumped as much as 5.7% to
125,670 yuan ($18,748.60) a tonne, its highest since Nov. 11.
Three-month nickel CMNI3 on the London Metal Exchange
advanced as much as 2.5% to $16,310 a tonne, a level unseen
since Nov. 7.
Nickel Asia Corp NIKL.PS said it suspended operations at
its Hinatuan mine, one of its four in the Philippines, until
Nov. 10, after 19 employees tested positive for the virus. The
mine contributed 11% of the firm's ore sales volume last year.
"This will cause nickel price to shoot up a lot," said a
Singapore-based nickel trader. "Pandemic situations pose a big
threat to the supply chain. It can explode very fast."
Nickel ore supplies have been tight in China since top
producer Indonesia banned exports from January.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME copper CMCU3 gained 0.2% at $6,809.50 a tonne at
0701 GMT and zinc CMZN3 advanced 1.5% to $2,582 a tonne. In
Shanghai, copper SCFcv1 rose 0.6% to 51,840 yuan a tonne and
zinc SZNcv1 advanced 1.8% to 20,090 yuan a tonne.
* Nickel's spectacular rally over the last month, fuelled by
ore shortages and robust demand from China's stainless steel
mills, still has momentum, but prices will retreat as supplies
rise and demand dwindles. * Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN fell to its lowest
since May 2019 at $49 a tonne, indicating weak demand for
imports into China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or MET/L
($1 = 6.7029 yuan)