LONDON: Nickel extended losses on Wednesday as investors judged its recent rally as mainly driven by speculators rather than supply/demand factors.
Other base metals were pressured by weak imports in top metals consumer China.
Nickel surged 10 percent last week during the LME Week industry gathering when some investors enthused about prospects for higher demand from the growing electric vehicle (EV) sector.
But analysts say demand from EVs will take years to kick in, while in the meantime Indonesia is raising nickel ore exports.
"The price action we've seen over the last few months have been somewhat detached from underlying fundamentals, suggestive of tourist buying rather than micro-fundamental buying, which creates some downside risk," said Nicholas Snowdon, metals analyst at Standard Chartered in London.
"The majority of fundamental investors we spoke to (during LME Week) particularly from China were neutral to bearish nickel at current price levels."
Nickel, copper and lead prices had all overshot the fundamentals while aluminium and zinc had a strong underlying basis to back up price rallies, he added.
CHINESE IMPORTS: China's exports and import growth eased in October in a sign the world's second-largest economy is starting to cool after a strong first half.
NICKEL: Three month nickel on the London Metal Exchange traded down 0.3 percent at $12,620 a tonne in official open outcry activity, adding to the 2.1 percent loss on Tuesday.
Nickel, which touched a two-year peak of $13,030 a tonne on Nov. 1, has gained 25 percent this year.
INDONESIA: Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on Tuesday said it had issued export quota recommendations for 20.4 million tonnes of nickel ore.
COPPER: LME benchmark copper traded 0.2 percent firmer at $6,838 a tonne in official rings after giving up 2.1 percent on Tuesday.
CHINA COPPER IMPORTS: China's unwrought copper imports fell in October from a month earlier to their lowest since April as prices soared to their highest in more than three years, while concentrate arrivals also slipped, customs data showed.
ZINC: LME zinc rose 0.6 percent in official trading to $3,184 a tonne.
DUGALD: Zinc appeared to ignore news that MMG's Dugald River mine in Australia was launched on Wednesday, highlighting that more supply is likely to come on stream. The mine will process an average 1.7 million tonnes a year of ore to initially produce 170,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate.
ALUMINIUM: LME aluminium, untraded in official rings, was bid down 0.7 percent at $2,118 a tonne. "The metal exhibits the largest long on the LME complex according to our estimates at 28 percent of open interest based on Friday's close, although this is some way below the multi-year peak of 44 percent in early-April," Alastair Munro at broker Marex Spectron said in a note.
PRICES: Lead was bid up 0.5 percent at $2,508 a tonne while tin was bid down 0.8 percent at $19,415.
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