Stainless Steel News and Nickel Prices, Molybdenum, Metal Pricing, Ferrochrome
Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing
- Nickel closed Tuesday’s trading session at
$6.50/lb
($14,340/tonne). Indicators at 7:05 am CST today show nickel trading around $.14/lb lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses went unchanged over the holiday break and continue to measure just under the 143,200 tonne level. Nickel is the big loser on the metals trading board this morning, followed by tin, with the others moving on slightly in different directions. Nickel was up nearly 35% year to date before today’s drop. We wonder if the news from IBM has spooked traders counting on EV battery demand to keep nickel prices inflated (see IBM blog post in Other News). Or, it could be a simple as trading houses taking end of the year profits and squaring their books. Whatever is causing traders to head for the exit doors, we end the week with the Grinch in control. We hope you all had a good Christmas and hope your weekend is a safe and pleasant one. - Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month – $6.24/lb
- Nickel (day old) price chart and history – here
Reports
- Reuters metals morning – London copper scales near 8-month peak on trade optimism – more
- Reuters Daily Inside Metals – no report posted
- SMM Evening Comments – more
- RBC Commodity Price Report – pdf here
- Barchart US 304 SS Scrap – $.250/lb
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
Tuesday’s market review – Zinc falls as increase in Chinese stocks heralds surplus – Zinc prices fell for a second day on Tuesday as an increase in stockpiles in China suggested supply of the metal was on the rise. – more
China’s stainless steel output likely to rise by 5% in 2020, down from 2019’s 11% – It was reported that China’s stainless steel output was likely to rise by 5% in 2020, less than the 11% increase in 2019. – more
Status of US steel market drivers key to 2020 outlook – The status of major US steel demand drivers ahead of 2020, and market expectations for those sectors in 2020, will play a major role in steel prices. – more
China November Nickel Ore Imports From Indonesia Surge Ahead of Export Ban – China’s monthly nickel ore imports from top miner Indonesia rose to a near 6-year high in November although its overall intake fell, as buyers raced to secure as much material as possible ahead of a ban on Indonesian exports starting in January. – more
Independence falls out of love with Panoramic; $312m bid falls over – Independence Group has given up on its pursuit of smaller target Panoramic Resources after “a number” of defeating conditions were breached. – more
PH nickel miner obtains first international award – Agata Mining Ventures, Inc., which is majority owned by TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc., landed its first international recognition at the ASEAN Mineral Awards, which recognizes best practices and being an exemplary model of environmentally and socially-sustainable mining. – more
Courtesy AISI – In the week ending on December 21, 2019, domestic raw steel production was 1,866,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 80.7 percent. Production was 1,861,000 net tons in the week ending December 21, 2018 while the capability utilization then was 79.4 percent. The current week production represents a 0.3 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending December 21, 2019 is up 1.2 percent from the previous week ending December 14, 2019 when production was 1,844,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 79.7 percent. – more
Russia’s Top 5 Earners Amass Extra $26.9Bln in 2019 – Forbes – Five Russian gas, oil and metals magnates ended the year as the country’s biggest earners with a collective $26.9 billion haul, Forbes Russia reported Thursday. All five individuals are among Russia’s 6 richest people. – more
(Ongoing) India Anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of Flat Rolled Products of Stainless Steel from China PR, Korea RP, European Union, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, USA, Thailand, South Africa, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Vietnam and Malaysia. – more
Basics in Mineral Processing – pdf here
Other News
- Reuters The Day Ahead – pdf here
- Free of Heavy Metals, New Battery Design Could Alleviate Environmental Concerns – more
- China’s growth likely to slow to 5.9% in 2020: Survey – more
- How the US-China trade war has changed the world – more
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