^[1]By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Nickel Investing News

On Tuesday, there was a rapid sell-off in all of the industrial metals as worries about the health of the global economy prompted investors to dump commodities.

The drop in the price of nickel ^[2] was short-lived, though. On Wednesday, nickel jumped to $19,175 compared to $18,100 as investors rushed to buy the metal to cover their short positions. Last year, nickel prices touched a high of $51,800 a tonne.  Currently, nickel prices are hovering around $17,500-18,000 a tonne and are expected to close at $20,000 this year.

Stainless steel makers including Jindal Stainless, Mukand Steel and Shah Alloys are looking at reducing prices by up to 5-7 percent in the coming months in the wake of falling global nickel prices. Earlier this year, Jindal Stainless slashed prices of the metal by as much as 30-35 per cent due to the drop in nickel prices.

Anticipating further dip in input prices, the company is planning another 5-7 per cent price reduction. Declining costs also prompted Posco, Asia's biggest producer of the alloy, to slash prices by as much as 10 per cent today. Falling nickel prices mean that stainless steel is cheaper to make. By adjusting the prices, they are hoping to give a boost to stainless steel sales. World stainless steel demand has dropped, and it may not recover until early next year as rising energy prices and a property slump in major economies curb consumption.  Acerinox SA, the world's largest maker of stainless steel by output last month reported weak demand outlooks for their products.

Nickel is one of the key raw materials for making stainless steel. In the past year alone, nickel prices have almost halved. According to NC Mathur, Stainless Director and Indian Stainless Steel Development Association President, sSince nickel prices had fallen sharply, there was a fair chance of revision in its prices. However, his company has not decided on the prices yet as some amount of uncertainty still exits in the market.

Tuesday, International Nickel Ventures Corporation ^[3] (INV.TO) reported a wider loss for the second quarter compared to the same quarter of the year prior. The Toronto based company posted a second-quarter net loss of $1.38 million or $0.02 per share, wider than the net loss of $0.49 million or $0.0094 per share previously reported. The company noted that the second quarter 2008 loss included $439,281. It is looking to a brighter future with its properties that are just nearing the stage where they will become profitable.  It also announced that its loss will in no way impact current business, as the funds on hand were sufficient to conduct all of its currently planned activities in 2008.

 Norilsk Nickel ^[4] has posted a large drop in profit. First half net profit, calculated to Russian Accounting Standards, fell 95 per cent from the year-earlier period to $16,889,021,968.69, according to an Interfax report. First half revenue fell 18 per cent. The Russian mining conglomerate is scheduled to release its first half IFRS ^[5] results in October.