Aluminum and nickel prices drifted closer to multi-year highs on Thursday, buoyed by fears of supply disruptions from Russia as tensions in eastern Ukraine escalated.
Three-month aliminum on the London Metal Exchange CMAL3 rose 0.4 percent to $3,304.5 a ton, slightly below 13-1/2-year peak of $3,380 hit earlier this week.
LME nickel CMNI3 climbed 1.1 percent to $24,655 a ton. Prices had touched a peak since 2011 at $25,135 on Tuesday.
Separatists in Ukraine asked Moscow to help repel “aggression” on Wednesday and explosions rocked the breakaway eastern city of Donetsk as the United States warned everything is in place for a major attack by Russia on its neighbor.
Western countries have threatened more sanctions on Russia if Moscow launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine, after the initial set of measures targeted banks and elites, while Germany halted Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
Russia produces around 6 percent of the world’s aluminum and 7 percent of its mined nickel. — Reuters