On March 27, the nickel futures at the London Metal Exchange (LME) went up by US$52 and closed at US$16,247/ton. Meanwhile, the spot price also increased by US$11/ton to US$16,023/ton. During the same day, the nickel inventories at LME grew by 222 tons and reached 201,300 tons.

China's industrial profits saw a smaller decline in the first two months of the year, while stainless steel futures gained strength. At the same time, rising prices of nickel ore and ferronickel, along with a drop in China's nickel social inventory, pushed nickel prices higher. However, with downstream buyers continuing to purchase only as needed, nickel prices are expected to remain volatile in the short term.