# Nickel: Trading

Why the LME price covers only the purest nickel

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/trading/

What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.

Nickel moved from producer pricing to the LME in the 1970s and 1980s (Tilton & Guzmán), and also trades on SHFE. The LME contract is for high-purity Class 1 metal. Most supply is now ferronickel, nickel pig iron or intermediates, priced at discounts reported by agencies such as Fastmarkets. In March 2022 a short squeeze sent prices to records; the LME suspended trading and cancelled trades, denting trust in the contract. Indonesia sets a government benchmark price for domestic ore sales.

#### Where it is bought (buyers)

- Stainless mills in China, Indonesia and India buy NPI and ferronickel, much of it from Indonesian parks (India took 178,527 t NPI/ferronickel from Indonesia in Jan-Oct 2024)
- Chinese and Korean battery precursor makers buy MHP and matte to make nickel sulphate
- Alloy, plating and specialty users in the US, Europe, Japan and India buy Class 1 cathode or briquettes; India imported 36,687 t in FY2026
- Chinese smelters buy Philippine laterite ore (China took 61% of 2024 nickel ore imports by value)

#### Where it is sold (sellers)

- Indonesian industrial parks (such as Morowali and Weda Bay) run by Tsingshan, Huayou and partners sell NPI, matte and MHP
- Nornickel, Vale and Glencore sell Class 1 metal on term contracts at LME plus premium
- Philippine mines export laterite ore to China
- Chinese refiners export cathode (China was 18.2% of unwrought nickel exports in 2024)

#### Exchanges and benchmarks

| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **LME** | Primary nickel, 6 t lots, min 99.80% Ni (cathode or briquettes) | Global reference; trust dented by March 2022 suspension and trade cancellations |
| **Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE)** | Nickel, 1 t lots, CNY | Most liquid Asian contract; reflects Chinese domestic balance |
| **MCX (India)** | Nickel futures, INR | Domestic hedge for Indian users |
| **NSE (India)** | Nickel futures (INR) | Listed Indian contract; liquidity is thin compared with MCX |

#### Contract types

- Class 1 term contracts at LME average plus annual or quarterly premium
- NPI priced per nickel unit (CNY per nickel point) against SMM or Mysteel assessments
- MHP and matte sold as a payable percentage of the LME price
- Indonesian domestic ore priced off the government HPM benchmark plus premium

#### Top trading houses

- Glencore
- Trafigura
- Traxys

#### How prices are discovered

- LME official and closing prices; SHFE settlement
- SMM and Mysteel daily NPI, matte, MHP and ore assessments
- Fastmarkets and Benchmark payables and sulphate prices
- Indonesia's HPM ore benchmark set by ESDM

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/cycles/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/links/index.md)