Quick Conversions
The Domestic Benchmark This Tracks — 10-Day Trend
All prices in ₹ per gram · daily rate, updated once per day
Two Exchanges, One Underlying Market
Today's domestic nickel benchmark sits at ₹1.41 per gram, as of September 17, 2026. Behind that single number sit two exchanges that traders in India actually watch side by side. The London Metal Exchange is where the global nickel price gets discovered — dollars per tonne, deep liquidity, over a century of trading history. The Multi Commodity Exchange, MCX, is India's own domestic futures market, quoting nickel in rupees per kilogram for traders and industrial buyers who want exposure without dealing directly in LME contracts.
Neither exchange operates in isolation. MCX nickel takes its cue from LME nickel, adjusted for the rupee-dollar rate and local market conditions, which is why serious domestic traders keep one eye on London even while trading exclusively on MCX.
Today's Baseline Across Weight Units
Today's Nickel rate is One Rupees per gram. At this rate, 10 grams of Nickel costs Fourteen Rupees.
| Unit | Weight | Price (INR) | Price in Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Gram | 1.0000 g | ₹1.41 | One Rupees |
| 8 Grams | 8.0000 g | ₹11.28 | Eleven Rupees |
| 10 Grams | 10.0000 g | ₹14.11 | Fourteen Rupees |
| 100 Grams | 100.0000 g | ₹141.06 | One Hundred and Forty One Rupees |
| 1 Kilogram | 1,000.0000 g | ₹1,410.57 | One Thousand Four Hundred and Eleven Rupees |
| 1 Ounce (oz) | 28.3495 g | ₹39.99 | Forty Rupees |
| 1 Troy Ounce | 31.1035 g | ₹43.87 | Forty Four Rupees |
| 1 Metric Ton | 1,000,000.0000 g | ₹1,410,573.00 | Fourteen Lakh Ten Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Three Rupees |
Why the Two Numbers Never Match Exactly
A trader converting LME's dollar-per-tonne quote to rupees and comparing it directly against MCX will almost always find a gap, and that gap isn't an error in either market.
What actually drives the spread
Import duty, freight and insurance on physical nickel entering India, local market premiums reflecting domestic supply-demand conditions, and simple timing differences — MCX trades during Indian hours while LME activity continues into the evening — all contribute. The USD/INR exchange rate on the specific day and hour of comparison adds another layer, since it's constantly moving even when neither nickel price has changed.
None of this makes one benchmark "more correct" than the other. They're answering slightly different questions: LME tells you what nickel costs in the deepest global market; MCX tells you what it costs to trade nickel exposure domestically in rupees, with India-specific costs already built in.
Recent Prices — Last 10 Days
The most recent Nickel price on record (2026-09-17) is One Rupees per gram.
| Date | Price (INR/g) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-17 | ₹1.41 | +0.00 |
| 2026-09-16 | ₹1.41 | +0.01 |
| 2026-09-15 | ₹1.39 | -0.03 |
| 2026-09-14 | ₹1.43 | -0.01 |
| 2026-09-13 | ₹1.44 | +0.00 |
| 2026-09-12 | ₹1.43 | +0.00 |
| 2026-09-11 | ₹1.43 | -0.02 |
| 2026-09-10 | ₹1.45 | -0.01 |
| 2026-09-09 | ₹1.46 | +0.01 |
| 2026-09-08 | ₹1.45 | — |
Which One Actually Matters for You
If you're a domestic trader or a stainless steel buyer negotiating a rupee-denominated contract, MCX is the number that shows up on your invoice or your trading account. If you want an early read on where MCX is likely headed before the Indian session opens, LME's overnight movement is the more useful signal — a sharp move in London routinely sets the tone for how MCX opens the next morning.
The most volatile moment in nickel's recent history — the March 2022 short squeeze that briefly more than doubled LME prices and forced a historic trading suspension — is a reminder of just how tightly these markets are linked. A dislocation that severe in London didn't stay contained there; it reshaped nickel pricing conversations everywhere that referenced the LME benchmark, MCX included.
LME vs MCX Nickel — Honest Answers
LME nickel is the price discovered on the London Metal Exchange, the world's primary reference market for nickel. It's quoted in US dollars per tonne and is the benchmark that domestic prices in India and elsewhere ultimately track.
MCX nickel is the nickel futures contract traded on India's Multi Commodity Exchange, quoted in rupees per kilogram. It gives Indian traders and industrial buyers a domestic, rupee-denominated way to track and hedge nickel prices without directly trading LME contracts.
They're different contracts in different currencies with different delivery terms, so a direct comparison always needs a USD/INR conversion. On top of that, import duty, freight, local premiums and the specific timing of each exchange's trading session all add gaps that a simple currency conversion alone won't fully explain.
If you're trading or hedging in India, MCX nickel is the more directly actionable number. But since MCX nickel takes its cue from LME nickel with a lag, watching LME movements — especially overnight, before Indian markets open — gives an early read on which direction MCX is likely to open.
The March 2022 short squeeze that forced the LME to suspend nickel trading for the first time in decades originated on the LME specifically, but a dislocation of that scale in the global benchmark inevitably reverberated through every market, including MCX, that prices off it.
