Nickel prices could continue to rally and even reach $65,000 a tonne this year, according to Jeremy Gray, head of the mining research team at Credit Suisse. That would represent a sharp jump from Wednesday’s nickel price of about $47,000 a tonne.

“The market appears to be anticipating a severe correction in the nickel price, given their fears of a potential destocking from the stainless steel industry and the impact it will have on nickel demand. However, we would beg to differ,” he says. Nickel is a key ingredient in stainless steel.