Stainless Steel News and Nickel Prices, Molybdenum, Metal Pricing, Ferrochrome
Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing
- Nickel closed Wednesday’s trading session at
$7.26/lb
($16,010/tonne). Indicators at 6:10 am CST today show nickel trading around $.01/lb lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses fell slightly on Wednesday and this morning, remain just above the 241,800 tonne level. Seeing some separation yesterday and today, with the Euro trading higher than it has in the last 2-1/2 years, while last night, nickel closed just about as close to the $16,000 tonne level as it could. For much of Wednesday afternoon, the trading price was under that level, as it is again this morning, albeit barely. For traders, nickel is potentially entering a stage where there is risk for a sudden and sharp movement – one way or the other. The $16,000/tonne level has become far more than a psychological point, and even more than a technical point. As the bears and bulls play tug-of-war for control, the flag sits over this level. As tension increases, there is always a chance we could see one side or the other stumble, and the market suddenly spike – or drop. This could be followed by a rush that lasts for awhile, or an immediate opposite reaction that gives the immediate benefit to the party that stumbled. Momentum is stagnant, but tension is tightening – so the next few weeks could prove interesting. Or not. If we knew what was going to happen with any degree of certainty, we would be a retired rich investor – and since we never did, none of those three words are applicable. Lot of industry news today, from both the stainless steel and nickel sectors. Yesterday we reported that Tuesday’s covid daily death toll was second only to April’s worst day. That lasted one day, as yesterday, the U.S. saw its highest number of deaths from covid since the pandemic began with 2,831 losing their battle with the virus. So while we can not let it beat us, we can make the adjustments to our lifestyle to combat the hidden killer. Stay safe out there and have a great Thursday! - Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month – $7.25/lb
- LME nickel chart – here / Euro/US Dollar chart – here
Reports
- Reuters metals morning – ShFE aluminium slips from 9-year high on profit-taking – more
- Refinitiv Inside Commodities – pdf here
- ING The Commodities Feed – daily here
- SMM Evening Comments – here
- Barchart 304 Stainless Steel Scrap Index – $.2969
- SHFE Stainless Steel Futures – 13,080
- Beige Book – pdf here
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
Wednesday’s market review – Copper down as firm dollar prompts profit taking – Copper prices eased on Wednesday as the higher dollar triggered profit taking on long positions, but losses were limited by expectations of strong demand in top consumer China and hopes for coronavirus vaccines. – more
China’s stainless steel demand expected to increase in Dec – According to the downstream market of stainless steel in China, the sales of household appliances showed a slight decrease this October, with a range of 9,800 tons, but still faced an almost 10% year on year increase in sales. – more
Ulbrich adds rolling mill to Connecticut plant – Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals Inc. has announced the addition of a 20-high rolling mill at its Wallingford, Conn., location. – more
Vale’s disappointing iron ore output adds fuel to scorching price rise: Russell – The hottest major commodity of 2020 is getting even hotter, with iron ore boosted by news that one of the world’s biggest producers will not meet its output targets this year. – more
Vaccine news boosts European stainless steel market – As we head into the final few weeks of 2020 the European stainless steel market is turning its attention to what the new year will bring. – more
Vale ‘hopeful’ on positive outcome for VNC nickel plant as sale deadline looms – Brazilian miner Vale is “hopeful” that a positive decision will be made within the next two days on the future of its Vale Nouvelle Caledonie (VNC) nickel and cobalt operation in New Caledonia, the company’s base metals executive director, Mark Travers said, Dec. 2. – more
Nornickel to sell less palladium, nickel than it produces in 2020 – head of sales – Russia’s Norilsk Nickel will sell slightly less nickel and palladium than it produces in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic reduced industrial demand, the world’s leading producer of the two metals told Reuters. – more
Brazil’s Vale output goals lag forecasts, sets emission targets – Brazilian miner Vale on Wednesday unveiled iron ore production targets that lagged previous forecasts while underlining its efforts to pay reparations related to a dam disaster and lower carbon emissions in the coming years. – more
Battery costs fall, make electric vehicles cheaper – BMI – The cost of battery cells used for electric vehicles has fallen to an average of $110 per kilowatt hour (kWh), making such cars competitive with those using internal combustion engines (ICE), according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI). – more
Distributor Pandemic Index Holds Steady Despite Component Variation – The index showed a modest year-over-year gain for the holiday-shortened selling week of Thanksgiving. – more
- The Evolution of Warehouse Logistics – more
- Biden Says He Won’t Immediately Lift China Tariffs – more
- Chinese Junk Could Sink The Profits Of Big Iron Ore Miners – more
Other News
- Reuters The Day Ahead – pdf here
Morning Nickel Prices
- Yesterday’s LME official prices here
- Shanghai Jinchuan nickel price – here
- Shanghai Futures Exchange Stainless – here
- India MCX Nickel Price – more
- Baltic Dry Index – chart
| Coronavirus By The Numbers – here Coronavirus by John Hopkins – here CDC Cases in the US – here Coronavirus Recovery Tracker – more US Fed MN Covid Economic Dashboard – more US Fed NY Weekly Economic Index – more Resurgence – how is your state faring? – more |