The war in Ukraine has jacked up metal prices, much to the chagrin of end users in stainless steel, automobiles, batteries and construction material, who are either forced to raise their prices or take a hit on their margins.

On Tuesday, the London Metal Exchange suspended trading in nickel — used in stainless steel and electric vehicles — after it zoomed 111 per cent to briefly top the $100,000 a tonne mark. Russia has a 6 per cent share of the market.

At the MCX, nickel was trading at Rs 4,850 per kg, a gain of almost 28 per cent over its last close of Rs 3,795.50.

Since the start of the war, aluminium prices have risen almost 12 per cent, copper around 7 per cent, cobalt 8.19 per cent, according to Kedia Advisory.

On Tuesday, NMDC the state-owned miner raised iron ore prices by Rs 400 per tonne. This is the third time in the January-March quarter the miner has raised prices.

Wheat gains

India has signed contracts to export about 500,000 tonnes of wheat in recent days, traders said, cashing in on a sharp rally in international prices and signalling a big uptick in overseas sales from the world's second biggest producer of the grain.

Traders said last week they had received inquiries from buyers seeking alternatives to Black Sea cargoes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatened supplies from two producers which together account for 30 per cent of world wheat exports.

(With inputs from Reuters)