The most-traded January nickel contract gained 2.55%, or 2,410 yuan, to 97,060 ($14,795) yuan per tonne as of 10:15 Shanghai time. Close connections between nickel and ferrous products made nickel prices the most sensitive to news of a fire at Bengang’s No.1 blast furnace on Friday September 1 that led the most-traded January rebar contract on the SHFE to gain more than 3% to 4,113 yuan per tonne on Monday morning, while the most-traded January hot-rolled coil contract surged nearly 4% during morning session. Fires have also broken out at several other steel mills including Xinxing Pipe and Hebei Shengbao, according to local media reports. "These accidents have raised market expectations of stricter safety checks and environmental inspections, which have lent support to the ferrous market,” said a Shanghai-based analyst. Meanwhile, constrains on the supply side for nickel are being aggravated by falling stocks

Source: MetalBulletin