Updated twice daily before 8:00 am CST and by 1 pm CST

• Indicators at 7:50 am CST show 3 month nickel selling around $.27/lb   lower. The move we said should happen, is happening. Although we have to be honest, the market has been finding a 'reason' to break higher for so long, we are surprised it has started to accept the reality of the supply and demand picture and started to retreat. Indicator charts show the market has moved below the TL3 line already this morning (chart), and Ed Meir's from MF Global is already working on establishing a new support line. Nickel buyers will now most likely take a wait and see attitude, and let the downward shift find a new footing. We have linked to the 6 month Kitco nickel chart below, to give you an idea where we are in relation to the last 6 months. For nickel and stainless steel users, the months prioir to this chart are a nightmare involving $23.50/lb nickel, and one they would like to forget.        
• Bloomberg morning metal news - more
• Guardian - more

6 month nickel spot chart

1 year chart here / 5 year chart here

  Reports

• CommerzBank Commodities Daily - pdf here

  Commodity Comments

• Ed Meir of MF Global Morning Comments - "It was a peculiar day in the LME markets yesterday in that base metals finished mostly on a down note, (apart from tin) with copper prices falling to a one-week low, while lead lost $100 on the day. We say peculiar because the dollar receded from its highs, oil recovered from earlier losses, and even the US stock market finished higher as, ironically, it was the natural resource sector that lead equities higher. ...Although base metals are mixed at the time of this writing, we think the tone as it unfolds over the course of the next day or two will be lower, but this time with good reason.... The dollar is weaker today against the Euro today and this, along with firmer energy prices, is preventing what seems to be a more negative tone from setting in on metals.... Nickel is at $26,890, down $560; another close below $27,800 today (likely) will warrant a shift in our trading band as the charts indicate that the recent congestion band (within a larger congestion band ) has been decisively broken."(read Ed Meir's complete morning base metals report here)

  Global prices of low carbon ferro-chrome have continued their climbing trend. - more

  Whether China’s stainless steel CR market could regain its strength since May, is the main focus for Japan stainless steel mills. - more

• According to the latest figures, Japan exported 153,276 tons of stainless steel in March, up by 13.1 percent year-on-year but the figure decreased by 31.1 percent from last month. - more

  China's steel product exports jumped 14.9 percent month-on-month to 4.78 million tons in April 2008, according to preliminary statistics released today by the General Administration of Customs. - more

  Thompson Creek Metals said on Thursday its first-quarter profit eased slightly as higher molybdenum prices were offset by rising costs .... Cash costs per pound were $10.54 in the quarter, up from $8.59. - more (comment - for those hoping for $4/lb molybdenum again some day, we added the sentence about what it costs to mine now)

  Xinhua reported that Baosteel and Sichuan Mingda Group have signed long term cooperative agreement to jointly build ferrochrome strategic supply chain. - more

  Goro Nickel, owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale, has given itself until June or July to reach an agreement with opponents of its planned mine in New Caledonia. - more

  It is important to keep South Africa's mines at their highest possible production levels, which means reducing their power consumption from current levels is not an option, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Thursday. - more

  European Commission announces anti-dumping investigations on imports of wire rod from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Moldova and Turkey - more

  Small and medium enterprises doubt if the latest decision by the steel producers to cut prices would bring any immediate benefit to them. - more

  The Indian government on Wednesday agreed not to enforce its earlier decision to impose export duties on steel and steel products. - more

  US-based mini-mill Steel Dynamics announced Thursday that its wholly owned subsidiary OmniSource and Recycle South have executed a definitive agreement whereby OmniSource will acquire the remaining equity in Recycle South for about $500 million. - more

  We can wait no longer to publicly address the impending minor metals crisis in the North American market. - more

  (headline only) Sinosteel to construct 500,000-ton nickel ore mine in Indonesia

• (headline only) China's PPI surges 8.1 pct year-on-year in April
• (leader only) It is reported that construction steel market, which has been flourishing in China since February has seen an evident decrease and the market is likely to start its correction. - MySteel

  Morning Nickel Inventory and Price Statistics & Figures

• London Metal Exchange inventory figures - most days available here (if not check this daily report under nickel here) (charts)
• London Metal Exchange inventory changes - most days here (if not check this daily report under nickel here)
• Today's almost official prices here  /  Yesterday's actual LME official prices here (chart)
• Shanghai Jinchuan nickel price - available here   (charts)
• Please let us know if any of these links stop working, or become available to subscriber's only

Previous day / May Archives

Translate this page to French | German | Spanish | Italian | Portuguese | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Russian

All prices are indications only and courtesy newswire services. "A Guide To LME Trading"...pdf here "The ABCs of a Metals Exchange" ...pdf here (Molybdenum prices are for molybdenum oxide, an ingredient and major price factor in 316 stainless) (all ton listings are metric tons = 2204.622 pounds ) Updated daily before 8 am CST and before 1 pm CST weekdays - Disclaimer Original content and opinions copyright www.estainlesssteel.com.