Better rate when selling goods and cheaper fuel for getting it out of the ground, processing and transporting certainly is attractive. However, it doesn't make up for these prices.

I can't see these prices being maintained for long though. IMHO, we will see a perhaps slow but steady increase as the panic settles in the marketplace.

My expectation is that the credit squeeze is going to close down some production and pending production and it will take some time for those operations to be viable again. It will be a while, but that should result in inventory drops and higher Ni prices as the economic cycle reverses and we climb out of this recession.

One thing is for sure.... if the Union at Vale is really thinking strike, they should keep their headlamps on, because it is dark when you have your head so far up your ass that you can't see that inventories are high and prices are low. No better time for someone like Vale to have a nice big ole strilke.

Cheers,

Bluenoser