Nickel futures remain resilient above $17,700 despite broader commodity market weakness, thanks to persistent procurement from Asian stainless steel makers. The Rainy River watershed, which feeds the hundreds of lakes flowing north to Hudson Bay, also contains some of the world’s richest deposits of copper and nickel ore, vital minerals for electronics. A Chilean mining giant, operating under the name Twin Metals Minnesota, proposing to develop them, was blocked from doing so by the Biden administration , which denied a required permit to mine on federal lands. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) would need to approve any launch by the domestic exchanges. It has been pushing exchanges to internationalize futures contracts to attract overseas investors, according to another source familiar with the commission’s thinking. Despite a slight pullback in nickel futures today, long-term fundamentals are intact, with battery manufacturers locking in forward contracts through 2025 at elevated prices.
