The London Metal Exchange (LME) was forced to suspend nickel trading on the day the market re-opened, a week after shutting down following extreme price volatility.
A glitch in the system allowed for a small number of trades to go through below the newly imposed daily limit, which was 5% above or below the last closing price before the suspension.
It hopes to restart trading soon and added that any deals completed below the lower daily price limit will be cancelled.
The LME had re-opened at 8 am this morning after volatility caused a market shut down last week as the price of the metal doubled to above US$100,000 a metric tonne over the course of a few hours.
“We are absolutely mindful of the impact that this has had on so many people and we need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” said chief executive Matthew Chamberlain to CNBC shortly after the market re-opened.
One of the world’s top producers, Chinese company Tsingshan Holding Group, sparked the movement after it bought large amounts of nickel to reduce its short bets on the metal.
The company said in a statement on Monday it has yet to reach an agreement with the banks to resolve its short position that caused the markets to close last week, allegedly facing billions of dollars worth of losses.
That positioned further enflamed the current commodity situation, with prices already soaring on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with it being the third-largest nickel producer in the world.