Although the impact of the introduction of reciprocal US tariffs last week has affected nickel futures, spot market prices for Asian nickel ore (-1.3%), nickel pig iron (-1.0%) and stainless steel (-0.23%) have so far proved resilient.

After the Chinese commodity exchanges were closed last Friday due to a public holiday, they had some catching up to do on Monday. Over the course of the trading day, however, SHFE nickel futures were able to improve by almost 3% from their initial low. A similar trend was seen in nickel on the LME today.

According to reports, more than 50 countries, including important US trading partners such as the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia, have already contacted the Trump administration to negotiate ways to reduce reciprocal trade tariffs. Taiwan and India had already offered zero per cent tariffs on US imports as compensation.

The ministers responsible for trade from the 27 EU member states are also discussing the possible effects of the US tariffs.