Stainless Steel News and Nickel Prices, Molybdenum, Metal Pricing, Ferrochrome

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing (7:00 AM CST is 12 PM in London)

  • Nickel closed Friday’s trading session at

    $6.40/lb

    . Indicators at 6:15 am CST today show nickel trading around $.02/lb lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses fell on Thursday and Friday and start the week just under the 144,000 tonne level. Nickel ended the week after going no where on Friday, much like it has this morning. The steep drop on Thursday established $14,050/ tonne as a line of support, although it may be more of a psychological line  than a technical one.  For the week, nickel fell 2.50+%, but is still up 13.4% on the month and higher by over 31% year to date. When comparing the traded price to one year ago, LME nickel is slightly higher, up by nearly 4%. It appears the high point for nickel this month, and year thus far, is $15,115 hit on July 18th. Stainless steel prices have increased and downstream users are starting to feel the effects of the nickel bounce. While nickel is down from its high, it is wise to remember this bull came to be in June around the $11,600+/tonne area. We saw $12,000 tonne fall in mid June, $13,000/tonne the week of July 8, $14,000 tonne the week of July 15, and $15,000 tonne was hit later that week, when the bear finally lassoed the bull and pulled him back to the $14,000 tonne level. That is where we remain today, and its anyone’s guess where the market will head. Fundamentals remain bullish, while macro economics somewhat less so. It’s the final three days of the first month of the latter half of 2019. May it be a prosperous one for you.

  • Average price of cash nickel so far this month – $6.06/lb
  • Average price of LME traded nickel in first half of 2019 – $5.59/lb / 2018 – $5.95/lb / 2017 – $4.73/lb / 2016 – $4.36/lb /

  Reports

  • Reuters metals morning – Base metals mixed ahead of trade talks as pessimism limits gains – more
  • Reuters Daily Inside Metals – pdf here  
  • SMM Evening Comments – more
  • June Monthly Steel Factsheet – pdf here
  • Acerinox Q2 2019 Results Presentation – pdf here
  • Nickel Magazine July 2019 – download here
  • Jindal Stainless Post – pdf here
  • US Economic Update – July 2019 – pdf here

  Commodity/Economic Comments

  • China Stainless Steel Scrap Market News / Price – more
  • Scotiabank Reports – more
  • Baltic Dry Index – (chart)
  • Stainless steel: The role of nickel – here
  • Alloyed for Lasting Value video – here
  • Self Repairing for Lasting Value video – here
  • Stainless Steel Council of China Special Steel Enterprises Association reports production of 300 series stainless rose by 19% for first half of 2019.
  • Stocks Are Mixed as Trade Talks, Fed Decision Loom: Markets Wrap – more

     Friday’s market review – Lead gains for third week as supply outages erode stockpiles – Lead prices were set for a third weekly gain as production outages tightened supply of the metal used in batteries and drove stockpiles in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses to the lowest in 10 years. – more

       June 2019 crude steel production – World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 159.0 million tonnes (Mt) in June 2019, a 4.6% increase compared to June 2018. – more

      Taiwanese Yusco greatly hikes stainless steel prices for Aug – Yieh United Steel Corp. (Yusco), the largest integrated stainless steel mill in Southeast Asia, announced its stainless steel prices for August today (July 29th). – more

      Why London Metal Exchange warehouses thrive in the shadows: Andy Home – Investment fund Cobalt 27 boasts on its website that it holds 2,904.7 tonnes of physical cobalt “fully insured and stored in LME-certified warehouses in Europe and the U.S.” – more

     Indian stainless flat import probe and rationale behind it – On 3 July 2019, Indian government’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated an anti-dumping investigation into stainless steel flat rolled imports from China, the US, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and nine other countries.  – more

      Taiwan determines to keep AD duties on stainless steel cold-rolled products from China & South Korea – According to the report, Taiwan has imposed a five-year anti-dumping duty on stainless steel cold-rolled products from China and South Korea since 2013. – more

      China’s lateritic nickel ore market to see 60,000 mt glut in 2019 – This year is likely to see an oversupply of 60,000 mt of lateritic nickel ore domestically, with estimated production of high-grade nickel pig iron (NPI) at 510,000 mt and the overall imports of ore at 570,000 mt, SMM forecasts. The readings are based on nickel content. – more

      Indonesia: International consortium seeks nickel & cobalt – An international consortium of renowned e-mobility players plans to build a resource mining plant for lithium-ion batteries on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. In concrete terms, the project reportedly involves nickel and cobalt. Tesla, CATL, LG Chem, Daimler and Volkswagen aim to participate in the consortium. – more

      FLNKS questions president’s role in saving New Caledonia’s nickel plant – New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS has questioned the role of the president Thierry Santa on the commission tasked with saving the SLN nickel plant. – more

      Average wage at ferrochrome smelter will be $108,000 (first site renderings) – Average wage at the Noront Resources Ltd. ferrochrome processing facility in Sault Ste. Marie will be $108,000, Stephen Flewelling, the company’s chief development officer told a Sault Ste. Marie audience on Friday. – more

      What you need to know about Minnesota’s PolyMet and Twin Metals mine projects – If you live in Minnesota, you’ve probably been hearing about the planned PolyMet and Twin Metals mines on the Iron Range. – more

  • Minnesota lawmakers call for suspension of all state permits for PolyMet copper-nickel mine – more

      Clive Palmer paid $1 for Queensland Nickel, court told – Administrator tells court the refinery was worth the same amount seven years later, and was losing $1m a week – more

  • Palmer takes ill as key witness in Queensland Nickel trial bails – more

  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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