Nickel prices climbed to their highest in seven weeks on Thursday as speculators returned to the market on worries that the Philippines could follow Indonesia in banning unprocessed ore exports.

Norilsk Nickel is the largest nickel and palladium producer in the world. Norilsk Nickel’s net profit tripled in the first half of this year, the company said in its first-half 2014 interim financial results.

Poseidon Nickel Limited Buys Black Swan Nickel from OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel

Global miner Vale does not have plans to shut its nickel operations in New Caledonia amid social unrest caused by an effluent spill, the company said to a local newspaper.

Gateway Mining (ASX:GML) has commenced a drilling program targeting volcanogenic massive sulphide copper mineralisation and intrusive related nickel-copper mineralisation at its Gidgee Project in Western Australia.

the nickel price, which is used to make steel stronger and more resistant to corrosion and extreme temperatures, hit a 14-month high on Thursday then topped itself on Apr18th

Norilsk expects that the Indonesian decree banning the export of unprocessed ore, signed by the country’s President in January, will result in the current oversupply in the nickel market coming to an end.

Nickel prices are soaring amid growing concern about the availability of supply from Indonesia and Russia, the top two producers of the metal.