Nickel prices more than doubled to go beyond $100,000 per tonne for the first time on Tuesday, following their greatest daily percentage rise on record the day before, as supply disruption fears gripped markets amid the deepening Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange jumped 71% to $82,250 a tonne, according to Reuters. Prices had risen by a little more than 110 percent earlier in the session, hitting a new high of $101,365 per tonne.
Fears of shortages are causing panic buying, according to Vijay L Bhambwani, head of research at Mumbai-based Equitymaster.
Oil and other commodity prices have risen sharply as industrial buyers and merchants struggle to meet demand due to supply shortages caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Investors are worried about inflation and slowing economic development after the US stated it was willing to prohibit Russian oil imports. However, Russia has warned that if the threat of a ban is implemented, oil prices may skyrocket to $300 per barrel.
Nickel is used to make stainless steel and batteries for electric vehicles, and Russia produces around 10% of the world's supply.
On Monday, nickel prices rose 76 percent to $50,925 per tonne.
"Investors found themselves deleting all Russian output from their supply and demand predictions and marking up prices accordingly when sanctions against the Russians were implemented with incredible speed last week," said ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst Edward Meir.