How nickel, cobalt and graphite have performed in 2017

Some commodities that are used as components to make lithium-ion batteries have underperformed this year, but that has started to change in the second half.

Here's a look at cobalt, nickel and graphite.

Diversified Miners (RIO) (TCK) (VALE) (BHP) Close Down as Base Metals Drop

Base metals dropped in Monday trading putting pressure on diversified mining giants Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) and Teck Resources, (NYSE:TCK), which all closed down.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped to $9,207 a ton, its lowest since March 17. It closed at $9,225 a ton from Friday's close at $9,450.

Stocks of copper in LME warehouses last rose 1,350 tons to 451,775 tons, their highest since June 2010.

Also weighing on metals, the U.S. dollar was stronger against a basket of major currencies, weakening metals demand from non-U.S. investors. European equities were down on increased talk that Greece will be forced to restructure its debt and uncertainty over a bailout for Portugal which dampened risk appetite.

Aluminium closed $2,674 from $2,690 a ton.

Zinc ended at $2,325 from $2,398 a ton. Stocks of the metal rose 50 tons to a seven-year high of 764,300 tons.

Battery material lead was down close to five percent to its lowest in over a month at $2,520 a ton. It closed at $2,528 from $2,651 a ton, while tin finished at $32,350 from $33,100 a ton and nickel ended at $25,500 a ton from $26,155.

Platinum was lower by 0.2 percent at $1,779.99 an ounce, while palladium fell 3.3 percent to $735.22.

BHP closed Monday at $97.98, falling $1.82, or 1.82 percent. Rio Tinto closed at $69.09, down $1.82, or 2.57 percent. Teck Resources ended the session at $50.68, losing $1.26, or 2.43 percent. Vale closed at $32.05, dropping $0.73, or 2.23 percent.

Northgate (NXG) (TRE) (GSS) Mixed as Gold, Silver End Slightly Up

Gold and silver prices were up moderately Wednesday, with some gold miners like Northgate Minerals (AMEX:NXG), Tanzanian Royalty Exploration (AMEX:TRE) and Golden Star Resources (AMEX:GSS), ending mixed on the day, although most the base metals ended down.

On Wednesday gold prices closed at $1455.60 an ounce. The Silver price for the May contract was higher by .43 percent at 40.24 an ounce.

The collapsing U.S. dollar continues to be a big factor, although it gained in strength near the end of trading Wednesday. Other factors are tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, deepening food and fuel inflation and the consequences of the Japanese earthquake in the auto and tech sectors, among others.

July platinum added $2.90 to $1,777.20 a troy ounce, but June palladium fell $4.80 to $765.30 a troy ounce.

Among base metals, May copper was down 9 cents to $4.30 a pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts were $115 lower to $9,515 a ton on the London Metal Exchange after stockpiles in LME-monitored warehouses added another 3,225 tons throughout the day.

Tin was also down in London trade, falling $300 to $32,250 a ton, while nickel dropped $450 to $26,250 a ton.

Northgate Minerals closed Wednesday at $2.76, gaining $0.03, or 1.10 percent. Tanzanian Royalty Exploration closed at $6.29, up $0.03, or 0.48 percent. Golden Star Resources closed at $3.03, fallng $0.03, or 0.98 percent.

US Gold (UXG) (NG) (AZK) (ANV) Rise as Gold, Silver End Slightly Up

Gold and silver prices were up moderately Wednesday, helping some gold miners like Allied Nevada Gold (AMEX:ANV), NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG), US Gold (AMEX:UXG) and Aurizon Mines (AMEX: AZK), who were slightly up on the day, although most the precious metals were dropping.

On Wednesday gold prices closed at $1455.60 an ounce. The Silver price for the May contract was higher by .43 percent at 40.24 an ounce.

The collapsing U.S. dollar continues to be a big factor, although it gained in strength near the end of trading Wednesday. Other factors are tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, deepening food and fuel inflation and the consequences of the Japanese earthquake in the auto and tech sectors, among others.

July platinum added $2.90 to $1,777.20 a troy ounce, but June palladium fell $4.80 to $765.30 a troy ounce.

Among base metals, May copper was down 9 cents to $4.30 a pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts were $115 lower to $9,515 a ton on the London Metal Exchange after stockpiles in LME-monitored warehouses added another 3,225 tons throughout the day.

Tin was also down in London trade, falling $300 to $32,250 a ton, while nickel dropped $450 to $26,250 a ton.

Allied Nevada Gold closed Wednesday at $37.87, gaining $0.41, or 1.09 percent. NovaGold Resources closed at $12.86, up $0.21, or 0.40 percent. Aurizon Mines closed at $6.79, rising $0.01, or 0.15 percent. US Gold ended the day at $9.09, jumping $0.32, or 3.65 percent.

Barrick (ABX) (IVN) (AUY) (IAG) Down as Gold, Silver End Slightly Up

Gold and silver prices were up moderately Wednesday which had gold miners like Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE:IVN), Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE:IAG) slightly down on the day, as most the precious metals also dropped.

On Wednesday gold prices closed at $1455.60 an ounce. The Silver price for the May contract was higher by .43 percent at 40.24 an ounce.

The collapsing U.S. dollar continues to be a big factor, although it gained in strength near the end of trading Wednesday. Other factors are tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, deepening food and fuel inflation and the consequences of the Japanese earthquake in the auto and tech sectors, among others.

July platinum added $2.90 to $1,777.20 a troy ounce, but June palladium fell $4.80 to $765.30 a troy ounce.

Among base metals, May copper was down 9 cents to $4.30 a pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts were $115 lower to $9,515 a ton on the London Metal Exchange after stockpiles in LME-monitored warehouses added another 3,225 tons throughout the day.

Tin was also down in London trade, falling $300 to $32,250 a ton, while nickel dropped $450 to $26,250 a ton.

IAMGOLD Corporation Wednesday at $21.50, falling $0.43, or 1.96 percent. Yamana Gold closed at $12.48, down $0.12, or 0.95 percent. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. closed at $26.68, dropping $0.22, or 0.82 percent. Barrick Gold ended the day at $52.16, down $0.18, or 0.34 percent.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) Prefers Copper Among Base Metals

Saying they see most base metals as being close to fully priced, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) noted copper is the one base metal they see continuing to rise in price.

Their assertion in both cases are the supply and demand equation at this time, which appears to have plenty of product for the market in the near term, with the exception of copper.

Talking the nickel rally they see it more of a price spike than anything else, citing the low supply and demand challenges it faced. They see it as a price spike, saying the rally happened too quickly in relationship to the shortage. “We continue to believe that further upside is unlikely beyond the very short-term, and medium-term risk is still heavily skewed to the downside,” Goldman concluded.

On copper prices Goldman said, “Although historical information on global producer, consumer, and trader inventories is imprecise, the data and estimates we do have suggests that there is still metal to be destocked as prices drive higher. We believe the highest historical breakout of prices and timespreads occurred when stocks moved down to around 9-10 days of consumption post-SRB sales in 2005/2006.”

They concluded, “We continue to recommend copper consumers aggressively protect price risk. We also recommend zinc consumers lock in longer-dated hedges when periods of high macro volatility persist and zinc prices sell off.”

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), Freeport (NYSE:FCX), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) All Close Up as Commodities Jump

For the most part individual miners enjoyed a more profitable day than diversified miners, but that didn't stop Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK), Freeport-McMoran (NYSE:FCX), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) from finishing positive Tuesday.

Most industrial and precious metals rose Tuesday, with lead being the one exception to the rule.

Gold and silver both pushed up nicely, and copper, aluminum, nickel, tin and zinc were all up for the day.

Teck Resources closed Tuesday at $63.56, gaining $0.76, or 1.21. percent. Freeport-McMorRan closed at $55.64, up $0.02, or 0.04 percent. BHP closed at $95.69, rising $0.54, or 0.57 percent. Rio Tinto surged to $76.63, gaining $2.46, or 3.32 percent.

BHP (NYSE:BHP) Nickel Production Interrupted at Kwinana

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) announced Friday a shortage of nitrogen gas has resulted in an interruption at their Kwinana nickel refinery in Western Australia.

The plant accounts for five percent of global production, and last year produced a little above 66,000 tons of nickel.

This isn't the first time this year production was interfered with, as in March there was a stoppage for 11 days; that time because of a shortage of hydrogen gas, suggesting problems at the site, as both nitrogen and hydrogen are major elements used to refine nickel, and it is difficult to understand how it wouldn't be available at any time for the process.