Nickel notches two-week high as Indonesia cracks down on trader
Nov 5 (Reuters) - Nickel jumped to its highest level in two weeks on Thursday after top producer Indonesia said it would clamp down on companies linked to a major ore trader, adding to concerns over tightening supply of the metal.
Benchmark three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange was up 2.2% to $16,125 a metric ton as of 1010 GMT, having earlier climbed as much as 3% to $16,255, its highest since October 22.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most traded nickel contract closed up 5.3% at 122,550 yuan ($18,375) a ton — also a two-week high — after its biggest daily leap since January.
Indonesia's forestry task force said it would take action against companies owned by or affiliated with businessman Arif Kurniawan for operating illegally in forest areas after identifying possible irregularities in mining governance, licensing and permitting processes.
Local media reports said Kurniawan was a former Glencore trader who controlled a large share of Indonesia's nickel ore trade.
Nickel producers in the country have already faced rising production costs amid sulphuric acid shortages and tighter ore mining quotas this year, prompting coordinated output cuts.
On the London Metal Exchange, aluminium was the second-biggest gainer, rising 1.6% to $3,096.50 a ton. Indonesia is expected to be a major contributor of new aluminium supply next year.
Meanwhile, copper edged up 0.2% to $14,044 as industrial metals were buoyed by a weaker dollar — making greenback-denominated commodities cheaper for investors using other currencies — but fears that the Democrats' US midterm victory could restrain the AI buildout weighed on prices.
In top copper consumer China, the Yangshan premium , a gauge for its appetite for imported copper, returned to $205 a ton on Wednesday, its highest in over a decade.
The rest of the complex also moved higher. Zinc gained 1.2% to $3,851, lead added 0.8% to $1,895.50 and tin rose 1% to $47,400.
($1 = 6.67 Chinese yuan renminbi)