BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Nickel prices were under pressure on Tuesday, as fears supply will be hit eased, while a weaker U.S. dollar lent some support.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was little moved at $17,170 per metric ton by 0504 GMT.
The most-traded March nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) was down 1% at 133,150 yuan per ton.
On Monday, an official at Indonesia's mining ministry said it is working to address delays in the approval process of mining quotas. The ministry has issued approvals for mining quotas for 145 million tons of nickel ore and 14 million tons of bauxite, he said.
Indonesia has the world's biggest nickel reserves and is also the top producer of the metal.
The slow mining quota release in Indonesia has resulted in tighter ore supply and lifted smelters' production costs, analysts said.
There had been speculation last week about the United States imposing new sanctions against Russian metal. However, the package of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia on Friday did not include metals.
Also weighing on prices was seasonal weak demand from the stainless steel sector, the main consumer of nickel.
The dollar traded on the back foot on Tuesday, as markets looked ahead to a week of U.S. economic data that will provide fresh signals on how soon the Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates.
A weaker dollar typically makes it cheaper to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
LME aluminium gained 0.5% at $2,191 per ton, copper advanced 0.1% to $8,475.50, zinc nudged 0.4% higher at $2,434. Lead climbed 0.1% to $2,099.50, and tin rose 1.1% at $26,360.
SHFE aluminium increased 0.5% to 18,845 yuan a ton and copper shed 0.4% to 68,780 yuan, while zinc added 1.2% to 20,685 yuan. Lead edged 0.4% higher to 15,945 yuan and tin nudged 0.1% lower to 216,410 yuan.
For the top stories in metals and other news, click or
($1 = 7.1983 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Varun H K and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
