90% of nickel stocks held by 1 firm: LME

More than 90 percent of the London Metal Exchange's nickel stockpiles were held by a single firm as of two days ago, data from the bourse show.

The so-called warrant cash holdings, documents on the ownership of metals registered at LME-monitored warehouses, also indicate single companies each held at least the same proportion of aluminum, aluminum alloy, lead and zinc inventories. The report was updated at 10:30 a.m. in London. The companies may no longer hold the positions as of today.

The LME data don't include metals that have been bought and are due for delivery, known as cancelled warrants.

As of yesterday, nickel stockpiles excluding the so-called cancelled warrants were 2,700 metric tons, aluminum was 707,775 tons, aluminum alloy 98,920 tons, lead 36,825 tons and zinc 7,700 tons.

The report showed a firm owning more than 90 per cent of copper and tin stockpiles as of Jan. 22 reduced their holdings. As of January 23, one firm holds between 30 percent and 39 percent of the LME-tracked copper stockpile. The largest position on tin inventories is between 50 percent to 79 percent.

Nickel for three-month delivery rose as much as $1,348, or 3.6 percent, to $38,798 a ton, beating yesterday's record by $296. Prices of nickel have more than doubled in the past 12 months.