LME nickel stockpiles, China nickel ore, Indonesia nickel

    We will be traveling on Friday so our next update will be on Monday the 15th. Have a safe and relaxing weekend!

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing (8:00 AM CST is 1PM in London)

  • Dow Jones is reporting three month nickel closed Wednesday’s trading session at $7.42/lb . Indicators at 6:45 am CST today show 3 month nickel trading around $.05/lb lower, with other London traded base metals trading mostly lower as well. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME approved warehouses fell on Wednesday and now total just over the 406,500 tonne level. We haven’t set a new record high in LME nickel stockpiles for seven sessions now – which we haven’t see a similar stretch since late June/early July. Nickel is looking for a floor
  • Average price of cash nickel so far this month – $7.46/lb
  • Average price of LME traded nickel in 2013 – $6.80/lb / avg 2012 – $7.95/lb / avg 2011 – $10.36/lb / avg 2010 – $9.89/lb
  • (USGS) Metal Prices in the United States Through 2010 – pdf here
  • Baltic Dry Index – (current) (chart)
  • Dollar trading graph – (chart of dollar index) (live java chart)
  • Bloomberg metals morning – Copper Advances Amid Speculation China Will Move to Stoke Growth – more
  • Reuters metals morning – Copper prices edge up on weak dollar, China demand in focus – more

  Reports

  • Damstahl Stainless Steel Report – December 2014 – pdf here
  • Reuters Metals Insider – pdf here
  • Commodities Daily – here
  • Commonwealth Daily Alert – pdf here
  • KBC Commodity Report – here
  • Angel Metals Fundamental Report – here
  • DNB Metals Weekly – pdf here
  • Mico Metals Weekly – pdf here  
  • Hedge Equities Commodity Report – pdf here
  • MacNicol Morning Notes – pdf here
  • Mangal Commodities Metals & Energy – pdf here
  • Danske Weekly Focus – pdf here

  Commodity/Economic Comments

  • China E-Stainless Daily Price Index – 81.73
  • China Stainless Steel Scrap Market News / Price – more
  • Yieh Daily Asian Stainless Steel News – more
  • Gerdau Steel Market Update – more
  • European Debt Crisis Live – more
  • 100 Years of Stainless Steel – more
  • (BNA) Glencore is considering the sale of its Araguaia nickel-cobalt project in Brazil, among other assets.
  • (SSY) The world export price for hot rolled band fell further at the start of December, dropping $8/t in the last two weeks to $504/t, according to the latest World Steel Dynamics Steelbenchmarker.
  • (CNN) “Every penny that gas prices decline puts about a billion dollars into Americans’ pockets, according to Stephen Stanley, Chief Economist of Amherst Pierpont. Gas prices were 62 cents higher this time last year, so the U.S. is basically getting a $62 billion stimulus injection. To put it another way, each household is saving roughly $500. That’s money people can use to buy other things or to save.” – more
  • U.S. fastener imports of iron and steel fasteners (HTS Code: 7318) increased 3% month-to-month to $432,591,065 in October and exports grew 8% to $349,924,048. – more

    Nickel prices should increase, economist says – The grey wintry skies mirror the global economic outlook for 2015-16, says one of Canada’s foremost economists. But the local economy should inch upwards over the next two years. – more

     Nickel hopes for an optimistic future – The abundance of nickel ore in the warehouse inventories, by the Chinese based nickel pig iron producers, and the flow of supply from the nickel mines, blocked the hike in the price of the metal, and further declined it below 14,000 dollars per tonne, in the beginning of the year, 2014. – more

    Asian Market of CR Austenitic Stainless Sheets Looks More Hopeful – Hopefulness has returned in the market of cold-rolled (CR) austenitic stainless steel sheets in the Asian region. – more

    Glencore sees global nickel market moving from surplus to deficit – The global nickel market is moving from surplus to deficit, Switzerland-based commodities giant Glencore said at its 2014 Investor Day in London. – more

    Glencore hunts for buyer to take on WA nickel mine  – Diversified miner Glencore this week confirmed its intentions to divest of the Cosmos nickel mine, in Western Australia. – more

    Tightening nickel affords opportunity for Asian Mineral Resources – Of the few base metals piquing analyst interest for 2015, zinc and nickel stand out. For nickel, supply was expected to tighten across next year, which should act as a price support. – more

    Roubini Global Sees Sub-$60 Iron Ore Amid Massive Surplus – Iron ore may drop to less than $60 a metric ton next year as the largest mining companies press on with raising supply, deepening a glut just as demand growth in China falters, according to Roubini Global Economics LLC. – more

    Few oligarchs can beat Russia’s weakening economy – Russia’s oligarchs are no strangers to misfortune, asset grabs, forced investments and financial crises. – more

   Investor Reports December 2014

  Morning Nickel Price Statistics & Figures

  • Today’s almost official prices here  /  Yesterday’s actual LME official prices here or here
  • Shanghai Jinchuan nickel price – available here or here (updated)
  • India MCX Nickel Price – more  more
  • 100 Years of Stainless Steel Video – online here
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