Nickel price history, 1960 to 2026

LME cash averaged $16,324/t in September 2026, +8% over twelve months and +60% over ten years. The nominal all-time high was $52,179/t in May 2007; in 2024 dollars the real peak was $79,168/t in May 2007. Monthly averages, World Bank Pink Sheet.

Show latest price in Converted from USD at the latest available monthly average rate (Federal Reserve via FRED); the chart and tables below stay in USD.

LME cashNickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF)

Dashed lines: OPEC oil embargo (Oct 1973); Iranian Revolution (Jan 1979); Iraq invades Kuwait (Aug 1990); Asian financial crisis begins (Jul 1997); September 11 attacks (Sep 2001); Lehman Brothers collapse (Sep 2008); Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident (Mar 2011); OPEC holds output steady amid oversupply (Nov 2014); COVID-19 declared a pandemic (Mar 2020); Russia invades Ukraine (Feb 2022); Israel-Hamas war begins (Oct 2023). Hover a line for the source of its date.

Derived price statistics per series
Series	Latest	1 month	12 months	5 years	10 years	20 years	All-time high (nominal)	All-time high (real, 2024 US$)
LME cash $/t, since 1960	16,324 September 2026	-3%	+8%	-16%	+60%	-46%	52,179 May 2007	79,168 May 2007
Nickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF) $/t, since 1992	16,751 August 2026	+1%	+12%	-12%	+62%	-45%	51,783 May 2007	78,568 May 2007

Percentage changes compare the latest monthly average with the monthly average 1, 12, 60, 120 and 240 months earlier. Real prices deflate by the US consumer price index (BLS via FRED) to 2024 dollars.

Prices are monthly benchmark averages that may lag the market; informational only, not investment, legal or trade advice. For what these benchmarks mean and how they are set, see how nickel is priced.

Monthly nickel prices by decade

Choose a decade. Values are monthly averages in the unit shown; blank cells mean no quote was published.

LME cash ($/t)

LME cash monthly prices, 1960s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1960	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631	1,631
1961	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711	1,711
1962	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761	1,761
1963	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,742
1964	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,741	1,742	1,742	1,742
1965	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735	1,735
1966	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739	1,739
1967	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936	1,936
1968	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075	2,075
1969	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363	2,363

LME cash monthly prices, 1970s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1970	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846	2,846
1971	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932	2,932
1972	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080	3,080
1973	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373	3,373
1974	3,572	3,572	3,572	3,572	3,572	3,572	4,079	4,079	4,079	4,079	4,079	4,079	3,826
1975	4,431	4,431	4,431	4,431	4,431	4,431	4,431	4,431	4,852	4,852	4,852	4,852	4,571
1976	4,850	4,850	4,850	4,850	4,850	4,850	4,850	4,850	4,938	5,313	5,313	5,313	4,973
1977	5,313	5,313	5,313	5,187	5,282	5,313	5,313	5,313	5,313	4,586	4,586	4,586	5,118
1978	4,586	4,586	4,586	4,696	4,696	4,645	4,586	4,586	4,586	4,586	4,586	4,586	4,609
1979	4,586	4,546	4,819	5,379	5,968	6,519	6,614	6,614	6,614	6,614	6,614	6,945	5,986

LME cash monthly prices, 1980s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1980	6,585	6,979	6,734	6,233	6,001	6,295	6,622	6,585	6,655	6,692	6,453	6,391	6,519
1981	6,404	6,371	6,292	6,307	6,352	6,169	6,150	5,999	5,579	5,217	5,100	5,496	5,953
1982	5,629	5,717	5,653	5,394	5,212	5,187	5,069	4,953	4,310	3,917	3,434	3,576	4,838
1983	3,797	4,228	4,832	4,818	5,032	4,883	4,804	4,853	4,911	4,674	4,585	4,657	4,673
1984	4,671	4,640	4,781	4,912	4,811	4,773	4,640	4,736	4,706	4,750	4,748	4,859	4,752
1985	4,947	5,051	5,212	5,490	5,604	5,553	5,091	4,908	4,570	4,240	4,035	4,090	4,899
1986	4,035	3,988	4,123	3,999	4,043	4,087	3,911	3,807	3,724	3,644	3,642	3,572	3,881
1987	3,525	3,717	3,772	3,898	4,436	4,436	4,753	5,307	5,333	5,692	5,937	7,661	4,872
1988	8,073	8,667	15,497	18,012	17,025	15,590	14,591	14,187	11,878	11,558	13,342	16,920	13,778
1989	17,725	18,524	17,157	15,261	13,454	12,143	12,275	12,910	11,222	10,425	9,793	8,809	13,308

LME cash monthly prices, 1990s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1990	7,056	6,977	9,267	8,940	8,698	8,422	9,318	10,957	10,844	9,145	8,587	8,158	8,864
1991	8,569	8,672	8,701	9,021	8,452	8,280	8,541	8,145	7,681	7,443	7,245	7,118	8,156
1992	7,517	7,862	7,418	7,421	7,327	7,193	7,498	7,268	6,918	6,305	5,565	5,724	7,001
1993	5,931	6,039	5,971	5,972	5,763	5,532	5,036	4,722	4,353	4,449	4,634	5,119	5,293
1994	5,578	5,825	5,588	5,408	6,087	6,282	6,227	5,860	6,365	6,748	7,556	8,556	6,340
1995	9,593	8,505	7,532	7,398	7,232	7,872	8,597	8,945	8,405	8,062	8,506	8,091	8,228
1996	7,862	8,216	8,022	8,043	8,027	7,709	7,204	7,054	7,318	7,031	6,943	6,581	7,501
1997	7,072	7,735	7,896	7,316	7,483	7,062	6,836	6,761	6,504	6,380	6,140	5,945	6,928
1998	5,492	5,387	5,396	5,394	5,020	4,476	4,325	4,081	4,102	3,872	4,132	3,878	4,630
1999	4,269	4,626	5,011	5,103	5,399	5,195	5,700	6,449	7,028	7,321	7,950	8,083	6,011

LME cash monthly prices, 2000s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2000	8,310	9,653	10,280	9,728	10,130	8,411	8,164	8,007	8,638	7,678	7,340	7,314	8,638
2001	6,995	6,524	6,134	6,330	7,061	6,641	5,937	5,521	5,027	4,825	5,078	5,264	5,945
2002	6,043	6,029	6,538	6,958	6,761	7,120	7,143	6,717	6,640	6,804	7,314	7,193	6,772
2003	8,026	8,623	8,379	7,910	8,331	8,875	8,797	9,351	9,965	11,047	12,087	14,163	9,630
2004	15,327	15,145	13,715	12,848	11,118	13,534	15,023	13,680	13,271	14,404	14,045	13,769	13,823
2005	14,505	15,350	16,191	16,142	16,932	16,160	14,581	14,893	14,228	12,403	12,116	13,429	14,744
2006	14,555	14,979	14,897	17,942	21,077	20,755	26,586	30,744	30,131	32,703	32,114	34,570	24,254
2007	36,811	41,184	46,325	50,267	52,179	41,719	33,426	27,652	29,538	31,055	30,610	25,992	37,230
2008	27,690	27,955	31,225	28,763	25,735	22,549	20,160	18,928	17,795	12,140	10,702	9,686	21,111
2009	11,307	10,409	9,696	11,166	12,635	14,960	15,985	19,642	17,473	18,525	16,991	17,066	14,655

LME cash monthly prices, 2010s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2010	18,439	18,976	22,461	26,031	22,008	19,389	19,518	21,413	22,643	23,807	22,909	24,111	21,809
2011	25,646	28,252	26,710	26,408	24,237	22,421	23,848	21,845	20,378	19,039	17,873	18,267	22,910
2012	19,855	20,394	18,661	17,940	17,068	16,549	16,128	15,735	17,288	17,169	16,335	17,449	17,548
2013	17,473	17,690	16,725	15,673	14,948	14,280	13,750	14,315	13,801	14,118	13,684	13,925	15,032
2014	14,101	14,204	15,678	17,374	19,401	18,629	19,118	18,600	18,035	15,812	15,807	15,962	16,893
2015	14,849	14,574	13,756	12,831	13,511	12,825	11,413	10,386	9,938	10,317	9,244	8,708	11,863
2016	8,507	8,299	8,717	8,879	8,660	8,928	10,263	10,336	10,192	10,260	11,129	10,972	9,595
2017	9,971	10,643	10,205	9,609	9,155	8,932	9,491	10,890	11,216	11,336	11,972	11,495	10,410
2018	12,865	13,596	13,393	13,938	14,366	15,106	13,794	13,411	12,510	12,315	11,240	10,835	13,114
2019	11,523	12,685	13,026	12,773	12,016	11,944	13,546	15,749	17,657	17,046	15,172	13,829	13,914

LME cash monthly prices, 2020s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2020	13,507	12,716	11,846	11,804	12,180	12,727	13,402	14,538	14,857	15,239	15,808	16,823	13,787
2021	17,863	18,584	16,407	16,521	17,577	17,980	18,819	19,141	19,377	19,362	19,933	20,016	18,465
2022	22,355	24,016	33,924	33,133	28,063	25,659	21,482	22,057	22,774	22,033	25,563	28,947	25,834
2023	28,195	26,728	23,289	23,895	21,970	21,233	21,091	20,439	19,645	18,281	17,027	16,461	21,521
2024	16,104	16,338	17,439	18,164	19,587	17,498	16,335	16,292	16,077	16,766	15,723	15,445	16,814
2025	15,394	15,288	16,066	15,113	15,346	15,003	15,034	14,949	15,106	15,092	14,671	14,884	15,162
2026	17,769	17,173	17,076	17,962	18,806	17,588	16,651	16,751	16,324				17,344

Nickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF) ($/t)

Nickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF) monthly prices, 1990s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1992	7,531	7,888	7,430	7,418	7,334	7,202	7,516	7,280	6,919	6,323	5,594	5,751	7,015
1993	5,948	6,051	5,975	5,988	5,778	5,544	5,051	4,740	4,376	4,465	4,642	5,140	5,308
1994	5,584	5,830	5,590	5,400	6,083	6,287	6,231	5,856	6,371	6,736	7,475	8,541	6,332
1995	9,596	8,431	7,522	7,405	7,262	7,877	8,618	8,932	8,397	8,069	8,498	8,074	8,224
1996	7,871	8,199	8,046	8,047	8,043	7,713	7,203	7,038	7,330	7,029	6,961	6,571	7,504
1997	7,069	7,737	7,893	7,313	7,476	7,060	6,833	6,764	6,498	6,373	6,137	5,942	6,925
1998	5,489	5,367	5,397	5,391	5,017	4,457	4,333	4,078	4,101	3,870	4,117	3,866	4,624
1999	4,264	4,623	5,003	5,055	5,396	5,195	5,696	6,431	7,029	7,318	7,947	8,073	6,003

Nickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF) monthly prices, 2000s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2000	8,315	9,584	10,255	9,747	10,123	8,384	8,175	8,038	8,625	7,651	7,351	7,319	8,631
2001	6,976	6,547	6,165	6,363	7,086	6,674	5,963	5,526	5,058	4,831	5,131	5,316	5,970
2002	6,061	6,040	6,543	6,957	6,771	7,148	7,138	6,737	6,665	6,819	7,315	7,206	6,783
2003	8,033	8,608	8,340	7,931	8,348	8,839	8,832	9,360	9,996	11,040	12,052	14,185	9,630
2004	15,089	15,099	13,787	12,726	11,229	13,599	15,020	13,640	13,430	14,378	14,090	13,765	13,821
2005	14,564	15,416	16,240	16,138	17,002	16,113	14,588	14,962	14,155	12,431	12,235	13,490	14,778
2006	14,661	14,975	14,925	18,029	21,131	20,586	26,186	30,469	29,703	32,551	31,892	34,401	24,126
2007	36,822	41,078	46,125	49,957	51,783	41,552	33,400	27,650	29,548	31,156	30,506	26,054	37,136
2008	27,775	28,065	31,093	28,777	25,657	22,563	20,107	19,112	17,782	12,145	10,777	9,847	21,141
2009	11,563	10,411	9,711	11,332	12,720	14,944	16,017	19,376	17,405	18,489	16,911	17,122	14,667

Nickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF) monthly prices, 2010s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2010	18,406	19,061	22,467	26,029	21,930	19,411	19,549	21,449	22,690	23,794	22,836	24,100	21,810
2011	25,621	28,412	26,710	26,332	24,165	22,421	23,848	21,865	20,378	19,039	17,873	18,246	22,909
2012	19,909	20,394	18,661	17,893	16,968	16,604	16,128	15,704	17,288	17,169	16,335	17,449	17,542
2013	17,494	17,690	16,732	15,629	14,948	14,280	13,750	14,308	13,801	14,118	13,684	13,925	15,030
2014	14,101	14,204	15,678	17,374	19,401	18,629	19,118	18,600	18,035	15,812	15,807	15,962	16,893
2015	14,849	14,574	13,756	12,831	13,511	12,825	11,413	10,386	9,938	10,317	9,244	8,708	11,863
2016	8,507	8,299	8,717	8,879	8,660	8,928	10,263	10,336	10,192	10,260	11,129	10,972	9,595
2017	9,971	10,643	10,205	9,609	9,155	8,932	9,491	10,890	11,216	11,336	11,972	11,495	10,410
2018	12,865	13,596	13,393	13,938	14,366	15,106	13,794	13,411	12,510	12,315	11,240	10,835	13,114
2019	11,523	12,685	13,026	12,773	12,016	11,944	13,546	15,749	17,657	17,046	15,172	13,829	13,914

Nickel, melting grade, LME spot (IMF) monthly prices, 2020s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2020	13,507	12,716	11,846	11,804	12,180	12,727	13,402	14,576	14,857	15,239	15,808	16,823	13,790
2021	17,863	18,584	16,407	16,521	17,602	17,980	18,819	19,141	19,377	19,362	19,933	20,016	18,467
2022	22,355	24,016	33,924	33,134	28,229	25,877	21,482	22,035	22,774	22,033	25,563	28,986	25,867
2023	28,271	26,728	23,289	23,771	22,135	21,233	21,091	20,446	19,645	18,264	17,027	16,444	21,529
2024	16,112	16,338	17,397	18,132	19,577	17,498	16,335	16,303	16,168	16,766	15,727	15,439	16,816
2025	15,374	15,287	16,048	15,146	15,350	15,003	15,034	14,948	15,103	15,092	14,671	14,879	15,161
2026	17,711	17,173	17,076	17,865	18,793	17,588	16,632	16,751					17,449

Method

Nominal prices are the source's monthly averages in US dollars, stored in the source's unit and never mixed on one chart. Real prices divide each month by the US consumer price index for all urban consumers (BLS series CPIAUCSL, via FRED) and multiply by the 2024 average, so they read as "2024 dollars". Changes are ratios of monthly averages. The all-time high is the highest monthly average, not an intraday peak.

Downloads

All series and statistics as JSON
Monthly prices as CSV (LME cash)
IMF series are shown as charts and statistics only; download them from the IMF Primary Commodity Price System.

Cite as: Commodity Origins, "Nickel price history (1960–2026)", https://commodityorigins.com/prices/nickel/, data 2026-10-02. Data updated 22 October 2026.