Nickel sinks as China analyst tells Reuters of huge stock overhang

Falling nickel prices hastened their decline on July 10 when Reuters quoted an analyst at China’s state-owned research group Antaike as saying China had 100,000 tonnes of nickel in stock, a rise of 88,000 tonnes this year. The estimate raised big questions about China’s real demand for the metal, which had seemed to be roaring ahead thanks to record imports this year. The story was further evidence of Reuters’ strength in China, the driver of base metals markets this year, and built on earlier Reuters stories that had flagged a growing nickel surplus in China. Bloomberg matched the story more than two and a half hours later.