Nickel prices rose almost 5% to a 16-month high on Thursday as fears rippled through the market over the possibility that major supplier Indonesia could bring forward a ban on exports of nickel ore. Other industrial metals also firmed after strong Chinese export data suggested that demand in the world’s largest metals consumer might hold up better than expected. Benchmark nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) at one stage shot up more than 12% to $16,690 a tonne, equalling an April 2018 high, before retreating to $15,530 and a 4.9% gain by 0955 GMT. The most-traded nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ... (full story)