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

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing 

  • Nickel closed Thursday’s trading session at

    $7.42/lb

    ($16,360/tonne). Indicators at 6:30 am CST today show nickel trading around $.04/lb  higher. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses fell on Thursday and started today, just under the 263,000 tonne level. Nickel fell slightly on Thursday and has gained back about half what it lost on Monday. LME nickel is now trading, at what we would describe, as just outside the March channel on the upside. Lots of news to end the week, and from the reports we have posted this week, the only bearish statistic we remember, was the Truck Tonnage chart.  These numbers were from February however, and we are not sure how much weather may have played a factor. The port numbers are at record breaking levels, so there is apparently plenty of goods out there to be moved. China’s steel numbers are up, as we reported earlier, regardless of the environmental curbs the country has put in place. Whack-a-mole anyone? The World Steel Association is forecasting steel demand will rise by 2.7% in 2021, with production rising by 5.8%. That’s a lot of surplus steel! The week has wound itself down and the weekend is right around the corner. Thank you for spending a few minutes with us, and we hope your weekend is a safe, and enjoyable one!

  • Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month – $7.42/b
  • LME nickel chart – here   /   Euro/US Dollar chart – here

  Reports

  • Reuters metals morning – London copper dips but set for weekly gain – more
  • Refinitiv Inside Commodities – pdf here
  • ING The Commodities Feed – daily here
  • SMM Evening Comment – more
  • Barchart 304 Stainless Steel Scrap Index (lb) – $.4142
  • SHFE Stainless Steel  Futures (yuan) –  14,045
  • Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales – pdf here
  • Manufacturers Sales – chart here
  • Empire State Manufacturing Survey – pdf here
  • The Distributors Link – online here
  • Manufacturing Outlook for April 2021  – online here
  • The Forward View – Global: April 2021 – 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

     Thursday’s market review – Bullish sentiment propels copper to six-week high – Copper gained on Thursday as banks raised their bets on consumption of the metal this year and focused on its longer- term role in the transition to a lower-carbon economy. – more

      worldsteel Short Range Outlook April 2021 – The World Steel Association (worldsteel) today released its Short Range Outlook (SRO) for 2021 and 2022. worldsteel forecasts that steel demand will grow by 5.8% in 2021 to reach 1,874.0 million tonnes (Mt), after declining by 0.2% in 2020. In 2022 steel demand will see further growth of 2.7% to reach 1,924.6 Mt. – more

      9.1% increase in South Korean stainless steel exports in Mar – According to the latest data, South Korea exported around 51,000 tons of stainless steel hot-rolled coil in March, an increase of 9.1% from February. – more

      China’s steel demand seen rising 3% in 2021, but fall next year as stimulus effect subsides – worldsteel – Most steel-using sectors in China will show moderate growth and the country’s steel demand is expected to grow by 3.0% in 2021, but decelerate to 1.0% as the effect of the 2020 stimulus subsides, and the government focuses on more sustainable growth, worldsteel said in its latest short range outlook. – more

  • China March crude steel output leaps on rosy profits, defying environmental curbs – more
  • China March aluminium output climbs to monthly record – more

       Metals Service Center Shipments Up Sharply – March steel and aluminum shipments increased by double digits in both the U.S. and Canada. – more

      Lifting of ban on new projects one less hurdle to mining revival – The local mining industry has one less roadblock on its way to revival after President Duterte lifted a nine-year moratorium on new mineral agreements between the government and the private sector. – more

      Russian researchers have developed a battery that can be charged ten times faster than a lithium-ion battery – Lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in our daily life. They’re typically used in smartphones, laptops, watches, and electric vehicles, to name a few. However, these batteries also pose some serious problems. – more

      How do titanium, stainless steel grain structures affect part forming? – The selection of stainless steel and aluminum alloys often is centered around strength, ductility, elongation, and hardness. – more

      US Industrial Production Rises 1.4% as Weather Warms – American industry rebounded last month as the United States recovered from an unusually frigid February. – more

   Other News

  • Reuters The Day Ahead – pdf here
  • Global Stocks Hit Record as U.S. Futures Steady: Markets Wrap – more

  Morning Stats and Prices

  • U.S. Steel Import Monitor – online here
  • SIMA Melt & Pour Dashboard – online here
  • 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