Nickel Caps Biggest Monthly Gain in a Year on Mine Strike

A worker prepares a nickel plate for a fuel cell .
Photographer: Douglas Healey/Bloomberg

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By Joe Deaux and Eddie van der Walt

April 30, 2015 at 1:43 AM UTC

Updated on

April 30, 2015 at 6:23 PM UTC

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Nickel capped the biggest monthly gain in a year after talks to end a Colombian mine strike failed.

Nickel, which is used in stainless steel, jumped 13 percent in April. A union attorney said negotiations on ending a two-week strike over working hours stopped without a resolution at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Cerro Matoso mine, the world’s second-biggest ferro-nickel mine. This month, the index of the six main prices on the London Metal Exchange gained the most since September 2012.