Nickel price at $23,000 per tonne – a new record

In the metals markets on Friday, base metals saw prices rise while gold fell during the week.

Copper was up $150 late Friday to $8,252 per tonne, a 7 percent gain during the week. Still, copper remained 6 percent lower than its record high of $8,790 per tonne, set earlier in the month. In attempts to curb the volatility of recent trade, the Shanghai Futures Exchange has raised the margins necessary to trade copper futures, and the New York Mercantile Exchange is expected to follow suit.

Nickel was up $875 on Friday to a new record of $23,000 per tonne, and it gained 17 percent on the week. The recent increases in nickel prices are reportedly being driven by strike rumors and by inventories that have fallen by 48 percent this year in London Metal Exchange warehouses.

Zinc added $215 on Friday to $3,825 per tonne, a gain of 18 percent this week and only 4 percent below its record high level, again on supply worries.

Aluminium prices rose $25 on Friday to $2,800 per tonne, a 2 percent rise during the week.

Gold, on the other hand, declined by over 1 percent during the week to trade at $651.80/$652.60 per troy ounce late in the day in London on Friday.