Nickel trading did resume on March 16, but the exchanges electronic trading system malfunctioned on several occasions after resumption, while preset daily limits on price movements (5 percent on the 16th, then 8 percent the following day, 12 percent on March 18 and 15 percent from March 21) prevented futures prices from falling sufficiently to levels that would entice buyers to enter the market once more. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Most analysts sided with Xiang, at least in the medium term, believing that nickel productionled by Tsingshan and its competitors in Indonesiawould outpace demand. read more. Metal industry sources said that for the duration of the standstill agreement Tsingshan, the world's largest nickel producer, may not have to buy any more metal to cover its short positions. Until yesterday, it appeared that a bailout plan for Chinese stainless steel titan Tsingshan Holding Group owned by "Big Shot" Xiang Guangda (and which was facing an $8 billion nickel margin call following the explosive surge in Nickel prices which briefly soared above $100,000/ton up 4x in just a few days, or would be if the Hong Kong-owned LME ever reopened Nickel trading) was coming along . . The big fear was that Tsingshan would struggle to make margin calls with its bankers, potentially facing billions of dollars in losses. The three-month LME nickel prices hit an intra-day high at $101,365 a metric tonne on 8 March 2022. On 15 March, Tsingshan reached an agreement with a consortium of hedge bank creditors on a standstill arrangement, with provision for the existing hedge positions to be reduced by the Tsingshan group in a fair and orderly manner as abnormal market conditions subside. There are also traders making plans to abandon the LME nickel contract, a move that would reduce market liquidity, making it harder for everyone from miners to car companies to manage their exposure to prices and access financing. read more. Nickel is commonly used in stainless steel production, but is also increasingly utilised in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. One thing is sure: If Xiang can weather the storm, Tsingshans nickel producing assets stand to benefit from the higher prices, offsetting losses from the short. Tsingshan has been finding it difficult to pay margin calls to its creditors, the report said. Perhaps whats most surprising is that this nickel squeeze happened within a market that had, for the last few years, been comparatively sedate, with rangebound trading rarely breaking above the $20,000/metric tonne (mt) mark on the upside before 2022. Given nickel matte prices of roughly $15,421/t May 18, we calculate a profit margin of $5,571/t for Tsingshan's nickel in matte. Nickel prices shot up as much as 250% in two days on the LME at the start of this week. The wild rise of nickel drew comparisons to the short squeezes in meme stocks such as GameStop Corp. that gripped retail investors for much of last year. While Mark Thompson, executive vice-chairman at mining-development company Tungsten West, tweeted: The LME is now very likely going to die a slow, self-inflicted death through the loss of confidence in it and its products.. The LME suspended nickel trading in the early trading session on March 8 after prices more than doubled, breaching $100,000/mt mark and briefly reaching a record high of $101,365/mt. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 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Today, in addition to its electronic market, its one of the last exchanges where brokers still gather in person to yell orders at one another for part of the day. (Bloomberg) -- One of the key Chinese players in last year's nickel short squeeze is preparing to meet London Metal Exchange Chief Executive Matthew Chamberlain in the first face-to-face encounter since the crisis that upended the global metals world.Most Read from BloombergHow Biden's Shock-and-Awe Tactic Is Failing to Stop RussiaChina Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Falls Flat With US . The broker was able to settle the margin calls on Tuesday after several clients, including Tsingshan, got loans to cover their positions, one of the people said. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. If nickel prices stay lofty it could complicate the energy transition with electric vehicle batteries costing more to produce. Everything changed when Russia invaded Ukraine. As the market was picking up on the short squeeze of Tsingshan, the LME had decided to intervene. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-nickel-giant-tsingshan-faces-8-billion-trading-loss-as-ukraine-war-upends-market-11646765353. Sanctions being implemented by Western powers against Russia over the invasion of its neighbour raised immediate concerns over the global supply of nickel, a metal that is primarily used around the world to make stainless steel and batteries and of which Russia accounts for around 10 percent of global supply. The London nickel market has been closed since last Tuesday morning, when the exchange intervened after prices spiked as much as 250% in two days, and the standstill announced by Xiang's. It was a classic short squeeze, as the pain for Tsingshan, its brokers, and other shorts created a self-reinforcing cycle. Hansen of Concord Resources argues that financial investors who traded nickel last week should have been prepared for the LME to step in. Remember, when prices move up, traders like Xiang who have sold futures contracts face margin calls; they must put up more cash to cover potential losses. They held a hurried call on Monday evening, but decided to allow the nickel market to continue trading. Nickel prices usually move a few hundred dollars per ton in a day. Tsingshan accounted for about half that amount. Undeterred, the Chinese tycoon has told banks he wants tomaintain his position, and has asked them to keep funding him despite the losses. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. For participants in commodities exchanges, a price rally is not necessarily good news. Nickels 250 per cent price spike in little more than 24 hours plunged the industry into chaos, triggering billions of dollars in losses for traders who bet the wrong way and leading the London Metal Exchange to suspend trading for the first time in three decades. The price move on March 8 created a systemic risk to the market, the LME said two days later. The limits also meant that those buyers seeking to unwind their positions had to join a long queue of sellers waiting to complete their transactions. Tsingshan's difficulties in paying its margin calls, and the company's ongoing bailout negotiations, have put its banks and brokers in a bind, as they have had to make hefty margin calls of their own at the LME to cover their short positions on the exchange. China's Tsingshan Holding Group has reached an agreement with banks under which they will not make margin calls on or close out the producer's nickel positions on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in a move that could help calm markets.. During the standstill agreement, the company and banks will discuss a standby secured liquidity facility, Tsingshan said. Tsingshan debacle exposes weak underbelly of LME. Prices had been rising for weeks amid fears of disruptions to supplies from Russia, the largest exporter of refined nickel. According to industry members association International Nickel Study Group (INSG), stainless steel production accounts for over two-third of nickel demand in 2020, while the use in batteries for EVs remained low at 6%. Trimegah menilai bisa. However, for business days 7th and 8th March, they would remain at . Li Huan/Red Star News/VCG via Getty Images. Distribution and use of this material are governed by Tsingshan and the LME declined to comment. The super spike was driven by holders of short positions, including Tsingshan and its brokers, rushing to close them out. During the standstill agreement, the company and banks will discuss a standby secured liquidity facility, Tsingshan said. Tsingshan was unable meet margin calls and only avoided bankruptcy after . The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. The metals industry, financial regulators and Chinese officials rushed to resolve a crisis in Londons nickel market, which remained on ice after an ill-fated trade sparked mammoth price gains and billions of dollars of losses. The XM Research Desk, manned by market expert professionals, provides live daily updates on all the major events of the global markets in the form of market reviews, forex news, technical analysis, investment topics, daily outlook and daily vidoes. A sharp surge in nickel prices triggered margin call fears at the London Metal Exchange which suspended trading after prices doubled in hours. Are you considering whether or not to trade nickel or want to learn more about the market? ", Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England are talking to the London Metal Exchange about the resumption of a fair and orderly market in nickel, the FCA said on Monday in response to a request for comment. As such, if Tsingshan can weather the losses on its LME positions, the higher prices could yet benefit its core business of producing nickel and stainless steel. The price was frozen, below the record high but still at US$80,000 a ton. The exchange then retroactively wiped out $3.9 billion worth of transactions made before the suspension to demonstrate that nickel prices had stopped reflecting the underlying physical market. Assessing the Incremental Costs of Regulation and Supervision Faced by Next-Gen Operating Models for Bankers and Advisors, Macroprudential Policy and Real Estate Funds. It got to a point where there were things going on which were not normal market forces. Daniel Ghali, director of commodities strategy at TD Securities, meanwhile, believes the worlds pricing mechanism for nickel is failing. The head of one London metals brokerage recalls feeling sick as he watched the moves, realizing what the spike in prices would mean for his company, the market, and the global metals industry. People familiar with the discussions said the exchange would ideally prefer to wait until Xiang has reached a resolution with his banks and brokers. Several large brokers got margin calls of close to US$1 billion each over the course of the day. Tsingshan, a privately-held company, and other 'shorts' faced larger margin calls on their short bets after the LME raised the amount of money companies had to deposit with it to cover their exposure to falling nickel prices, the three sources said. Then on March 7, nickels price began its parabolic ascent, surging from US$30,000 a ton to more than US$50,000. But to hedge against a a drop in prices, they use. But its extremely unusual for an exchange to cancel whole sessions of trading after the fact. Those past scandals forced reforms on the exchange. China's Tsingshan Holding Group bought large amounts of nickel to reduce its short bets on the metal and its exposure to costly margin calls, turbocharging a record rally fuelled by the conflict . A short squeeze is a market condition caused by massive short positions. Tsingshan yang dimiliki oleh swasta secara harfiah memiliki arti "gunung hijau", berbasis di kota Wenzhou di China dan memiliki . Given our role in supervising the LME, we have been, and will continue to be, taking a very close interest in how it is managing and responding to the issues, the FCA confirmed in late March. The annals of commodity markets are full of tales of producers and traders, fromMetallgesellschaftto Sumitomo, that blurred the lines between hedging and speculation and ended with billions of dollars in losses. Help using this website - Accessibility statement. While Russias nickel exports havent been targeted by sanctions, U.S. and European buyers have nonetheless sought alternatives to Russian sources. Tsingshan has been struggling to pay margin calls to its brokers, according to people familiar with the situation. Creditors and banks who acted for Tsingshan were demanding margin settlements and the closing of all positions. Late on Monday, the LME also allowed traders to defer delivery obligations on all its main contracts -- including nickel -- an unusual step that underscores the pressure on commodities generally from the moves to isolate Russia economically. A week earlier, nickel was trading around $25,000 and the price of the metal has more than quadrupled in a matter of days. read more. Matthew Chamberlain speaks on "Bloomberg Markets: Europe.". The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Nickel trading resumed on 16 March 2022. It should be mentioned that nickel had already rallied to $25,000 in January before easing off by the end of the month. One of the world's biggest nickel and stainless steel producers, Tsingshan started building a short position -- a wager that prices will fall -- in the nickel market last year. 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