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SYDNEY, Sept 3 (Reuters) – London nickel firmed on Wednesday, bucking the trend in a largely flat metals market, after a Philippine senator filed a bill urging a halt to exports of unprocessed mineral ores.

The proposed halt is similar to a ban introduced by Indonesia that led to a sharp spike in nickel prices and cut other ore exports from January. The ban in Indonesia has led stainless steel makers in China and in Japan to source more ore from the Philippines.

The move raised the spectre of further supply squeezes in a nickel market that most analysts expect to see in deficit next year, although there was little sense of whether the bill would find popular support, or any timescale on whether exports could be banned, if the bill was even signed into law.

Read more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-2741516/London-copper-steady-low-volumes-supply-outlook-drags.html