Nickel slide continues in commodities trading

As the proverb states, what goes up must come down, and that's certainly been the case for nickel in commodities trading lately, with that trend continuing into yesterday.

The metal fell past $18,000 a ton on Thursday for the first time in two months as profit hunters sought to take advantage of the metal's spurt in price this year, which saw it reach $21,625 a ton as recently ago as mid-May.

Top nickel producer Indonesia's ban on unprocessed ore had been the cause for the rally which saw a 30 per cent price hike this year, but investors are now realising they may have over-egged the pudding as stocks haven't diminished as much as expected.

Another element that needed to be considered in commodities trading was the potential unlocking of a cache of the metal on the Solomon Islands, as a legal battle over a large deposit reaches a conclusion. By the close on the LME, nickel was priced at $17,925 a ton.