Stainless Steel News and Nickel Prices, LME Nickel Price, Stainless Steel News – Molybdenum – World Metal Pricing and Market Conditions

  Update – BHP’s response to union allegation listed below

  • BHP media relations officer, Tracey Whitehead, returned our call after we published our afternoon update, with information regarding the school closure. Yes, BHP confirms the school did close on Friday, but strictly due to Colombia labor law, and for no other reason. According to Tracey, Colombia Labor law requires “all” company commerical and financial activities to be shut down during a labor strike, and since the school is 100% funded by the Cerro Matoso Foundation, its operations, directly tied to the company, had to be shut down also. We appreciate the clarification from BHP regarding this matter.   

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Wrap-up

  • Official LME nickel closing prices – cash – $15.06/lb 3 month buyer – $15.20/lb (27.62% higher than 12/31/07) (chart)
  • Baltic Dry Index – plus 115 to 7,993. (chart)
  • LME nickel inventories – minus 72 tonnes from Rotterdam, Netherlands warehouse, minus 24 tonnes from Vlissingen, Netherlands warehouse, minus 24 tonnes from Gothenburg, Sweden warehouse
  • Dollar remained weak, while the ‘conflict’ between Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia quieted down after Colombia produced evidence that Ecuador and Venezuela and the terrorist organization FARC have close ties. After listening to Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez rant and rave yesterday, calling him everything from a murderer to a mafia boss, Colombia President Alvaro Uribe announced today he would seek criminal charges against Chavez in the International Criminal Court. Back in London, profit takers took over metals trading today, with many precious and base metals selling in the red.  Nickel was trading all over the place for most of the day, first falling by about $500/tonne, then rising nearly $1000/tonne, before succumbing on kerb trading, falling nearly $1300/tonne, before recovering some. For the day, three month nickel closed at $14.90/lb ($32,840/tonne)
  • Closing Metals Report – more

  Average Prices and April US Surcharges

  • Allegheny Ludlum , North American Steel, and AK Steel issued their stainless steel surcharges for April today. Using AK Steel figures, the surcharge for 304 stainless steel rose from March’s $1.4121/lb to $1.4728/lb, and on 316 stainless steel, rose from March’s $2.3501/lb to $2.4159/lb. Average prices for the month of February 2008, according to AK Steel….. Chrome – $1.9838/lb / Nickel – $12.6804/lb / Molybdenum – $33.35/lb / Iron – $405.00/GT We post monthly surcharges for comparison here  and detailed historical information in excel format  for those who like to make their own charts or presentations here

  DJ BHP, Union To Resume Talks To End Strike At Colombia Mine

  • Australian mining company BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP), owner of a Colombian nickel mine, will “soon” resume negotiation talks to end a strike that has entered into its sixth day, a union leader Tuesday said. – more

  Comment – Nickel Strike Update

  • According to its website – in 2003, BHP awarded an employee merit award to Luis Alberto Ponguta Gomez, Team representative at the Cerro Matoso Nickel Mine and Smelter, in Cordoba, Columbia. “Luis and his team, together with some teachers and the Mayor of Montelíbano, have led the establishment of the Centre of Municipal Education Resources, in order to make possible the training of low-income students in a single place and improve the quality of their education. Thousands of students from local primary and high schools are now accessing the Centre’s educational programs and facilities.” That year, in its Health Safety Environment and Community Report for 2003, BHP claimed “We recognise the importance of assisting in the development of communities wherever we operate…..Cerro Matoso’s support for a central educational resource in Montelíbano, Colombia, enhances learning for thousands of students” According to reports by the mines union, BHP closed this educational facility on Friday, because of the union decision to strike. (report here) Since ‘independent’ reports are difficult to come by in the remote regions of Colombia, we contacted Tracey Whitehead, U.S. media relations officer for BHP, to get a confirmation or denial of this allegation. Tracey advised that she had no personal knowledge of any such action, but would have to check into the matter further and contact us back. As of yet, we have not received an official reply from the company.

  Copyright/courtesy Dow Jones

  • “…the base metal complex is trading lower, getting hit by some long liquidation and light commodity trade advisors selling following another day of falls in US equities, says a London-based trader. Adds that crude oil, agriculture and precious metals are also down. “Overall the market is nervous and a deeper correction is possible,” the trader says.”

  Russian ferrochrome deal to fetch a billion dollars

  • Nesis considers chrome sell-out in the most lucrative, short mining career on record – more

  S.African power crisis sharpens stainless prices

  • South Africa’s power crisis isn’t just driving precious metals such as gold and platinum to record highs, it is also raising the cost of a more commonplace material: stainless steel. – more

  China Commodities Weekly – Review of Chinese nickel pig iron industry and steel demand outlook in 2008

  • In this week’s report, we review Chinese nickel pig iron industry developments in terms of production output as well as cost analysis. We estimate that in 2008 Chinese recoverable nickel from nickel pig iron will be 110,000t, up by 29.4% YoY from 85,000t in 2007. – more

  More Bits & Pieces

  • Interview with New PDAC President Jon G. Baird on Mining Challenges – Stan Sudol – more
  • Western Australian mining areas watching Tropical Storm Ophelia closely – here
  • World molybdenum demand is expected to grow 5.8% this year, a base metals analyst told a commodities outlook forum at the annual PDAC convention in Toronto. – more

  Morning Briefing (8:00 AM CST is 2 PM in London)

  • Indications at 7:50 am CST show 3 month nickel selling up by $.12/lb . Nickel trading is having a hard time finding its footing this morning. It was down by around $500/tonne earlier, and recently traded up by $500/tonne. It has gradually retreated since, but remains in the green.
  • Bloomberg – more

  TD Bank Weekly Commodity Price report – pdf here

  Rand  Merchant Weekly Base Metal Reports – pdf here

  Canada Commodity Price Report – pdf here

  Karvy Comtrade Metals Insight – pdf here

  ABARE Australian Commodities Quarterly Report – pdf here

  China expected to continue to drive up commodity prices: Bank of Canada

  • A Bank of Canada report suggests Canada owes much of its hot commodities-driven economy and the surging dollar to China’s insatiable demand. – more

  General Review Of Ferro-Chrome In 2007 And Its Outlook For New Year

  • Projects To Expand Capacity For Ferro-Chrome In South Africa Are Restricted By Shortage Of Electricity Supply – more

  Bits & Pieces

  • Norilsk Nickel, the Russian nickel producer at the centre of a takeover battle, is the first target of a new activist investor group which aims to put pressure on polluting companies and industries. – more
  • Germany’s ThyssenKrupp is seeing steel orders so far in 2008 at their strongest in five years, the board member in charge of steel told Reuters on Tuesday. – more
  • China’s coal supply, again, has become a bottleneck in the power supply. A report issued by the China Electricity Council (CEC) states that the coal shortage will become one of the major factors in the restriction of power supply in 2008. Before the report was released, it was believed that the shortage was a temporary issue due to the recent bad weather. – more
  • German steel flat products producer ThyssenKrupp Steel plans to increase prices further for deliveries after July 1 in the face of rising costs, Jost Massenburg, a member of the company’s executive board, said Tuesday. – more
  • Italian police announced that they have seized 30 tonnes of Chinese made steel that had been contaminated by a radioactive substance. Officers seized it last week after radiation turned up in tests on metal scraps at companies across Italy that had used part of the shipment. – more
  • The energy crisis predicted years ago has had unprecedented effects – plunging most parts of the country into darkness, and impacting all industries, including the resources sector, with mining houses having to halt operations and report significant production losses. – more
  • Presentation by Tav Morgan, Deputy General Director, Member of the Management Board of MMC Norilsk Nickel, at BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference  – pdf here
  • miningmx.com reported that ferrochrome prices will increase during 2008, driven by a 9% increase in demand and an expected shortfall in supply from South Africa. Ferrochrome prices reached a record USD 1.21 per short tonne in the Q1 of 2008. – more

  Courtesy AISI – This Week’s Raw Steel Production

  • In the week ending March 1, 2008, domestic raw steel production was 2,153,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 90.3 percent. Production was 2,126,000 tons in the week ending March 1, 2007, while the capability utilization then was 89.5 percent. The current week production represents a 1.2 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending March 1, 2008 is down 0.2 percent from the previous week ending February 23, 2008 when production was 2,158,000 tons and the rate of capability utilization was 90.5 percent.

  PDAC: Mirabela advances on monster nickel project

  • Big nickel mines don’t come around very often. But TSX-listed Mirabela Nickel Inc. continues to make solid progress with its Santa Rita project in Brazil, with production expected in the middle of next year. Santa Rita is the biggest greenfield nickel project in the world — and by a large margin. Mirabela now has 508,000 tonnes of nickel (or 1.12 billion pounds) in reserves, and it could get a lot bigger with more drilling. – more

  Beginning LME nickel inventory / Overnight Shanghai closing price

  •   London Metal Exchange – minus 120 tonnes = 47,592 tonnes (0.96% – 456 tonnes cancelled warrants/ 47,136 net stock level) (charts)
  •   Shanghai Jinchuan nickel – 270000-272000 RMB/t, plus 11,750  (charts)