Nicholas Snowdon

Nickel has a strong fundamental story and I think the view of investors was that after a near $2,000 pull-back, it was approaching territory that, irrespective of that macro noise, was an attractive entry point, this was in particular for the Chinese investor base, where many are hard-core nickel bulls.

Nicholas Snowdon

We have seen the liquidation of a very large long position in China. With that out of the way, that creates a relatively clean positioning picture.

Nicholas Snowdon

In the context of a market waiting for supply-side cuts, a stronger dollar is only going to weigh on the cost curve and constrain the pace at which cutbacks are made.

Nicholas Snowdon

Aluminium tops the list in terms of potential and much needed production cuts in the Western world. Also in the zinc market, we're seeing zinc mine production growing at the fastest pace in several years, given the positioning in base metals, which have swung firmly to short side, if you do see some significant production cut announcements, that could be a trigger for some short covering.

Nicholas Snowdon

What will be very important over the next few weeks is whether we start to see some supply responses emerging during the corporate results period.

Nicholas Snowdon