London’s nickel market will stay closed at least until next week, giving the London Metal Exchange more time to resolve a crisis caused by a huge loss-making trade originating in China.
The LME paused trading in nickel Tuesday, the first time it had suspended a market since 1985, and canceled trades executed before the suspension. The exchange late Thursday extended the freeze through the end of the week.
“The LME is doing everything it can to reopen the market as safely and swiftly as possible,” it said in a statement.
The nickel market, like much of the commodity world, has been upended by the war in Ukraine. Russia is a major supplier of nickel, which was already in short supply due to demand for electric-vehicle batteries and other industrial uses, such as stainless steel.
The nickel-trading freeze is one of the…
