Nickel price is expected to rise in 2015, one senior analyst said at 2014 SMM China Metals Summit on Nov. 23-24.

“LME nickel price will lurch higher and range between $17,500-18,000 per tonne in 2015,” Yao Qizhong, senior analyst from Baosteel Stainless Steel Co., told SMM during an interview at the summit.

Indonesia’s ore ban, the monsoon season in the Philippines and the El Nino climate phenomenon will be good to nickel prices in 2015, he noted at the summit in Shanghai.

Stringent environment protection inspections in China will also increase nickel production costs, he added.