LONDON — The benchmark three-month nickel contract fell 12% on Friday morning to hit a new trading limit, as heavy selling continued on international metal markets.

According to data from Refinitiv, the price reached $36,915 per metric ton when it opened up for trade. This 145-year old exchange still allows for trading but has seen price spikes, technical problems, and suspensions of trading over the past two weeks.

On March 8, nickel prices more than doubled in a matter of hours, climbing above $100,000 a metric ton as one of the world’s top producers, China’s Tsingshan Holding Group, bought large amounts to reduce its short bets on the metal. The move caused a market rally that was already accelerating due to Russia’s increasing conflict in Ukraine. Trading had been stopped.

After the unusual shutdown, LME then attempted to resume nickel trades on Wednesday. The exchange was then temporarily suspended again due to a “systems mistake”.

LME established a trading range starting at 5% on Wednesday. It was then increased to 8 % for Thursday and then to 12 % for Friday.

Matthew Chamberlain (CEO of LME) spoke before Wednesday’s open to CNBC’s “SquawkBox Europe”, saying that they were “absolutely conscious of the effect that this has had upon so many people” and that there was a need for them to prevent it from happening again.

Chamberlain stated that the LME “deliberately prioritized stability”, setting relatively tight trading limits for daily trading. However, these may soon be increased if there is a more orderly market.

On account of supply concerns about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a host of Western sanctions, commodity prices rose.

—CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this article.