BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Nickel prices fell on Tuesday after Indonesia said it is working to approve more mining quotas, which are expected to help ease tight ore supply in the world's top producer of the metal.
Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) dropped 0.6% to $17,060 per metric ton by 0220 GMT.
The most-traded March nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) was down 1.5% at 132,430 yuan ($18,397.40) per ton.
Prices were boosted last week by fears of new sanctions against Russian metal by the United States and the slowdown in mining quota issuance in Indonesia that led to ore supply tightness.
However, the package of sanctions imposed on Russia on Friday did not include metals.
On Monday, an official at Indonesia's mining ministry said it issued approvals for mining quotas for 145 million tons of nickel ore and 14 million tons of bauxite, as it works to address delays in the approval process.
LME aluminium gained 0.6% at $2,193.50 per ton, copper advanced 0.5% to $26,210, zinc nudged 0.2% higher at $2,428.50. Lead dipped 0.1% to $2,094, and tin rose 0.5% at $26,210.
SHFE aluminium increased 0.4% to 18,835 yuan a ton and copper shed 0.5% to 68,750 yuan, while zinc added 1.1% to 20,655 yuan. Lead edged 0.3% higher to 15,920 yuan and tin nudged 0.3% lower to 215,810 yuan.
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($1 = 7.1983 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Varun H K)
