As a corollary to that quote:

Nickel market tarnished by credit crunch

Thursday, 23/10/2008

A year ago, it was being called the 'new gold', but now the price of nickel has plummeted so low, it's costing more to produce than it's worth.

Nickel is used in quality stainless steel.

From a high of US$50,000 a tonne 18 months ago, it's now worth one fifth of that.

Carey Smith, from Alto Capital, says nickel is another casualty of the global credit turmoil.

"Nickel's been caught up in the whole commodity cycle, and if you look at all the coppers and the zincs and the leads, they've fallen just as much basically, but nickel's fallen a bit further than most," he says.

"With the credit crisis in the US, in Europe and the UK, people just need money. They'll sell anything at any price."