The London Metal Exchange’s (LME) extraordinary decision on March 8 to halt nickel trading after a short squeeze triggered by a Chinese metal tycoon’s large short position sent commodity prices skyrocketing to more than $100,000 a ton will have far-reaching ramifications for Chinese firms in global markets. That’s according to Christopher Balding, an economist and analyst of Chinese business affairs. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the price of nickel, a metal heavily in demand for the manufacture of electronic vehicles and other uses, had risen partly as a result of the heavy concentration of deposits of the precious metal in Russia, which massive sanctions have now cut off from much of the world. The spike in the commodity price frustrated a huge short position held by Xiang Guangda, founder of Tsingshan Holding Group, one of the world’s biggest nickel and stainless steel producers. Guangda bet that nickel prices would go down, not …
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