December 03, 2008

Nickel rises to 3 months high as BHPB mine halts output

Bloomberg reported that Nickel rose to the highest in three months after a strike at BHP Billiton Ltd's Cerro Matoso mine in Colombia halted production.

Ms Samantha Evans a spokeswoman of BHP Billiton said that we cannot say how long the operations will be affected by the strike which began yesterday.

She said the strike notice came after a breakdown of talks on a new two year labor contract at the plant that employs some 3,000 people directly and indirectly.

Nickel for delivery in three months advanced USD 1,349 or 4.6% to USD 30,549 a tonne. Earlier it traded at USD 30,900 a tonne, the highest intraday price since November 19. Nickel has risen 16% in 2008 lagging behind copper and aluminum as demand from stainless steel mills is recovering.