Cancelled Nickel Trades on the LME

In markets, there are few principles considered more important by traders than the idea that when a commitment to a deal is made, it should stand come what may.

So, there was uproar in the commodities market last week over the London Metal Exchange’s decision to bring the global nickel market to a halt and cancel futures trades because of a “short squeeze” on a Chinese tycoon facing potential billions of dollars of losses.

In one of the most controversial moments in its 145-year history, the LME cancelled an entire days’ worth of trades after a near doubling of the price of nickel, a metal used in stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries.

The rally, partially sparked off by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had left Xiang Guangda, the tycoon behind Tsingshan Holding, China’s leading stainless steel and nickel manufacturing group, unable to meet demands for extra cash on a huge bearish bet that backfired. The LME believes that if had it forced the settlement of the trades, it would have bankrupted some of its smaller members and its decision was “in the interests of the market as a whole”.

In today’s video we look at what happened in the nickel market and how it is working itself out.

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