UPDATE 3-CME Group not planning to launch nickel contract to rival LME - FT

(Adds London Metal Exchange declining to comment in paragraph 3)

April 24 (Reuters) - CME Group Inc, the world's largest derivatives exchange, is not planning to launch a nickel contract to rival the London Metal Exchange (LME), Terry Duffy, chair and chief executive of the group, told the Financial Times on Monday.

"I'm not working on listing a nickel contract," he told the FT, adding that launching an alternative would be difficult.

CME Group and London Metal Exchange both declined to comment.

In February, Reuters reported that CME Group plans to launch a nickel contract, settled with prices gathered from a platform to be launched by UK-based Global Commodities Holdings (GCH), which could eventually compete with the LME.

There have been calls for reform to LME's nickel contract.

Last year, the 146-year-old British metal exchange was forced to cancel trading in nickel for 8 hours as prices doubled. Multiple investigations were launched by regulatory bodies after the disruption.

Last month, nickel delivered by LME-approved warehouse firm Access World to commodity traders Trafigura and Stratton Metals turned out to be stone.

Later, LME said that it has no reason to believe any other approved facility were affected by the "irregularities" and called it an isolated incident. (Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)