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

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing 

  • Nickel closed Monday’s trading session at

    $8.29/lb

      ($18,280/tonne). Indicators at 6:10 am CST today show nickel trading around $.04/lb  lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses fell on Monday and ended the day just under the 248,700 tonne level. Reuters is reporting the reasoning behind the jump in Chinese stainless steel futures is higher raw material costs and inventory builds based on expectations of strong demand following the New Year holiday break in February. A Chinese official is also being quoted as confirming the covid lockdowns so far, have been limiting travel in and out of the effected territories and restricting extra circular activities. So far, manufacturing has not been affected.  The world saw its 100 millionth confirmed case diagnosed yesterday, with a death toll in excess of 2.1 million. A Chinese steel group is reporting 300 series stainless steel production in that country rose 6.58% in 2020, which represents 47.71% of all stainless production there. Imports of stainless steel rose 61.33% into China, while exports fell 6.95%. Lot of news below, so we leave you with it. Stay safe and have a great day!

  • Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month – $8.10/lb
  • LME nickel chart – here   /   Euro/US Dollar chart – here

  Reports

  • Reuters metals morning – Copper slips for a fourth day as rally loses momentum – more
  • Refinitiv Inside Commodities – pdf here
  • ING The Commodities Feed – daily here
  • SMM Evening Comments – here
  • Barchart 304 Stainless Steel Scrap Index – $.3870/lb
  • SHFE Stainless Steel  Futures –  14,480/yuan

  Why Stainless Steel

  • Alloyed for Lasting Value video – here
  • Self Repairing for Lasting Value video – here
  • 100 Years of Stainless Steel Video – here
  • Stainless steel: The role of nickel – here
  • The Life of Nickel – pdf here

     Monday’s market review – Tight supply pushes tin prices to highest since 2014 – Tin rose to its highest since 2014 on Monday after a shortfall of the metal used in solder to connect components in electronic devices pushed up prices for 12 straight weeks. – more

      Shanghai stainless steel jumps on rising raw material prices, post-holiday demand – Stainless steel futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 2.5% on Tuesday, gaining for a second straight session, fuelled by rising raw material prices and expectations of strong demand after the Chinese New Year holidays. – more

  • China stainless steel output, consumption rise in 2020 – more

      Taiwan’s Yusco & Tang Eng expected to hike prices on high nickel prices – The international nickel price has reached a six-year high recently, coupled with the continuous increases in prices of key raw materials for stainless steel making, such as nickel pig iron, ferrochrome, and scrap, Yieh United Steel Corp. (Yusco) and Tang Eng Iron Works Co., Ltd., two leading stainless steel upstream suppliers in Taiwan, were expected to hike their domestic and export sales prices for February. – more

      Sherritt meets 2020 guidance, but shares fall – Sherritt International on Monday reported its production results for full-year 2020, and also provided guidance for expected production, unit costs and capital spending in 2021. – more

      Govt Seeks To List Biggest Mining Company – Zimbabwe, banking on mining to end two decades of economic stagnation, plans to list the company in which it has placed state mining assets to raise cash to meet government obligations, the nation’s finance minister said. – more

  • BNC To Tap 8 000m Underground To Increase Nickel Production  – more

       Malaysia revises anti-dumping duties on steel from Vietnam – Malaysia has revised duties on imports of cold-rolled coils of alloy and non-alloy steel from Vietnam to 7.42-33.7 percent for the period between January 24 and May 23.  – more

      Courtesy AISI – In the week ending on January 23, 2021, domestic raw steel production was 1,717,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 75.7 percent. Production was 1,906,000 net tons in the week ending January 23, 2020 while the capability utilization then was 82.4 percent. The current week production represents a 9.9 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year. – more

       Mining resolution figures to divide St. Louis County Board this week – A resolution opposed to state or federal bans on copper-nickel mining has the support of the Iron Range and rural commissioners, but Duluth’s Patrick Boyle bristled, describing it as unnecessary and ‘divisive.’  – more

  • Stauber introduces Saving America’s Mines Act – more

      4 Advantages of Working with Stainless Steel in 2021 – Stainless steel or corrosion-resistant steel is a generic name for many different steels that are primarily used due to their corrosion resistance for a specific application or a specific environment. It is an alloy of iron and at least 12% chromium. – more

   Other News

  • Reuters The Day Ahead – pdf here
  • Job Losses from Virus 4 Times as Bad as ’09 – more
  • China takes new foreign investment top spot from US – more
  • Stocks Trade Mixed as Dollar, Treasury Yields Rise: Markets Wrap – more

  Morning Nickel Prices

  • Yesterday’s LME official prices here 
  • Shanghai Jinchuan nickel price –  here 
  • India MCX Nickel Price – more
  • Baltic Dry Index – chart
Coronavirus By The Numbers – here
US Fed MN Covid Economic Dashboard – more
US Fed NY Weekly Economic Index – more
Resurgence – how is your state faring? – more