23 May 2024 – Profit-taking has led to slight to moderate price corrections in raw materials such as copper, nickel and aluminum. Overall, however, base metals remain at a significantly higher level. And China imported 38% more stainless steel in the first five months of 2024 than last year, which points to a further increase in demand.
Profit taking: Raw materials take a breather
The raw materials rally of recent weeks took a breather on Wednesday after investors and speculators took profits. Profit-taking could be observed across the entire base metal spectrum. However, the overall impact on prices remained slight to moderate.
Raw materials: Copper still above USD 10,000
Copper is still trading at over USD 10,000 per MT on the LME, while aluminum is well above the average of recent months at more than USD 2,600 per MT. And nickel prices stay significantly higher than in January 2024 with a price increase of more than 25%. All in all, the raw materials only took a quick breath once.
China imports significantly more stainless steel
According to the latest customs data, imports of stainless steel to China increased by 59% in April compared to the same month last year. An increase of 27% was observed compared to March. In the first five months of 2024 compared to the previous year, imports even increased by 38%. The demand for stainless steel in China also appears to be so great that exports have only risen marginally compared to imports, meaning that China even has a positive import balance.
This should be a good indication to the European Commission that it should shift down a few gears in its China policy and stop cowardly hiding behind falsified statistics. After all, measures pulled out of thin air based on half-baked data to pursue self-serving political motives will ultimately only harm the future of Europe.
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Disclaimer: Many things here represent our opinion. Others are information from the Internet. We can therefore never claim to be correct or complete. And never base a business decision solely on the news you receive from us.
