Nickel falls below $21,000/ton

Nickel prices fell on Wednesday, despite the US dollar's drop against most currencies, but the industrial metal remains supported by the increasing demand for electric cars.

Steel and automobile companies use nickel to a large extent, as nickel has promising potential in manufacturing batteries, which lifts demand from automakers.

Tesla announced this week record sales of its electric vehicles in 2021.

This came despite growing concerns about the coronavirus crisis and the recent surge in infections in the US, Europe and Asia.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.3% to 95.9 points as of 14:26 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.3 points and a low of 95.9 points.

Nickel spot prices fell 1.1% to $20,688.5 a ton as of 14:36 GMT.