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

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing 

  • Nickel closed Monday’s trading session at

    $8.10/lb

    ($17,860/tonne). Indicators at 6:05 am CST today show nickel trading around $.03/lb lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses rose on Monday and ended that session just over the 249,100 tonne level. Nickel is slightly lower today, but we suspect that has more to do with the Euro trading sharply lower against the US Dollar than anything else. Reports from New Caledonia that the government has collapsed there, partially due to the sale of the Vale nickel mine. The island residents are likely more concerned with Cyclone Lucas approaching at the moment, as is the French cruise ship La Laperouse. Apparently New Zealand refused the ship admittance, or even a refueling stop, as part of their very successful covid ban, and now the ship is waiting for fuel off of New Caledonia. Not nickel related, but if your knee deep in snow or cold today, its not all roses in this island paradise. Reuters has published their annual poll of metals analysts (see article below) and the average of nickel forecasts for 2021 comes in at $16,535/tonne ($7.50/lb). The average of the monthly LME cash price for 2020 was $6.25/lb, down from $6.42/lb in 2019. For 2020, the same metals analysts polled by Reuters forecast $6.95/lb. Those of our readers who participated in our poll last January

    (see Jan 16, 2020)

    forecasted an average of $6.53/lb. We (ESS) forecast $6.35/lb, but we had one anonymous reader from Webco Industries who actually forecast $6.23/lb and gets the bragging rights. While the pandemic obviously had an impact on the 2020 price, it is interesting to note that nickel was on a downward slide in January when the poll was taken, but at the end of March, turned bullish for the remainder of the year. It should also be noted that different organizations use different formula’s to determine an annual average price – we use the average of the monthly cash price of LME nickel. It’s Tuesday, and a day where we Americans stare at men in funny hats, who are staring at a gopher, in the hopes of learning what the weather will be like for the remainder of winter. Oh well. Lots of news and reports today, so we leave you with it. Stay safe and have a great day.

  • Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month – $8.08/lb
  • LME nickel chart – here   /   Euro/US Dollar chart – here

  Reports

  • Reuters metals morning – Industrial metals mostly fall as caution rises ahead of Chinese New Year – more
  • Refinitiv Inside Commodities – pdf here
  • ING The Commodities Feed – daily here
  • SMM Evening Comments – here
  • Barchart 304 Stainless Steel Scrap Index (lb) – $.3888
  • SHFE Stainless Steel  Futures (yuan) –  14,000
  • ATA Truck Tonnage Index – pdf here
  • Global Manufacturing PMIs – pdf here
  • ISM January Manufacturing PMI – more
  • USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2021 – pdf here
  • USGS Nickel Summary 2021 – pdf here
  • USGS Chromium Summary 2021 – pdf here
  • USGS Molybdenum Summary 2021 – pdf here
  • NAB China Economic Update – February 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

     Monday’s market review – Doubts over Chinese demand weigh on copper – Copper slipped on Monday as manufacturing data from top consumer China raised the prospect of slowing demand growth, while a higher dollar prompted funds to cut bets on higher prices, though losses were capped by historically low inventories. – more

      Base metals analysts turn cautious after stellar rally – After a super-charged rally over the second half of 2020 base metals may struggle to notch up further price gains in the short term. – more

      Taiwan’s stainless steel prices keep going up – Last week, due to the increasing raw material costs, stainless steel upstream plants, including Yusco, Tang Eng, and Walsin Lihwa, raised their prices for February as expected. – more

      New Caledonia Government Collapses Over Nickel Plant Sale – New Caledonia’s coalition government collapsed Tuesday after pro-independence politicians resigned over disagreements over the budget and the sale of a nickel factory on the French South Pacific territory – more

      Sudbury mining workers reach tentative agreement with Glencore – Mining workers at Glencore’s Sudbury operations are voting Monday on a new collective agreement with the company. – more

      ATI to close stainless steel operation by end-2021 – Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) previously planned to close its stainless steel business in the middle of this year, but recently the plan will be postponed to the end of this year. – more

      Budget 2021: Revocation of anti-dumping duties on stainless steel imports an ‘unintentional gift’ for China, says industry – Coming down hard on the Union Budget proposal to waive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports from China and Indonesia, the industry body representing stainless steel makers has said the measure defeats the government’s pet theme of ‘Make in India.’ – more

       Could the world’s deep seas become China’s mining frontier? – Chinese researchers have spent the last decade mapping the globe’s ocean floors looking for potential mineral deposits – more

      Courtesy AISI – In the week ending on January 30, 2021, domestic raw steel production was 1,725,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 76.1 percent. Production was 1,906,000 net tons in the week ending January 30, 2020 while the capability utilization then was 82.4 percent. The current week production represents a 9.5 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year. – more

      ID’s January Industrial Supply M&A Recap – Activity was down slightly from December, but still solid amid a transition to a new US President. – more

  • February US steel market sentiment less bullish: Platts survey – more

   Other News

  • Reuters The Day Ahead – pdf here
  • Stocks Rise on Tech, Stimulus Bets; Silver Falls: Markets Wrap – more

  Morning Stats and Prices

  • U.S. Steel Import Monitor – 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