13 September 2022 – The Asian nickel contracts on the SHFE have increased significantly today. In some cases by more than 10%. Stainless steel prices continue to rise sharply. And the European Commission will present a proposal today to combat forced labour – will the import bans come now?
Nickel contract jumps by more than 10%
Nickel contracts on the Asian SHFE have risen significantly in today’s trading. The contracts went up with jumps of up to 10.49% in some cases. And thus made up for some of what the LME nickel had already done on Monday.
Low inventories drive nickel contract prices up
There also seems to be more and more competition for the available nickel volumes between the SHFE and the LME. Both commodity exchanges have had problems with official inventories for some time and have been reporting new lows in inventories for nickel and aluminium in recent months.
Stainless steel prices rise
Asian stainless steel prices continue to rise. Chinese spot prices are up by more than 3.5% in some cases today. Since the beginning of September 2022, they have even risen by more than 7%. But stainless steel futures are also continuing to rise. They rose by almost 4% today on the SHFE.
Forced labour: Is the EU import ban coming?
Announced some time ago and repeatedly urged by the European Members of Parliament (MEP), the European Commission is to present a proposal today to regulate an import ban on products from forced labour.
Fighting forced labour
Similar to the US counterpart, the aim is to provide better protection for the estimated 25 to 28 million people who are forced to work worldwide. In particular, goods originating in China have been targeted.
In the eye of US and EU authorities
The draft is intended to take into account the entire process chain. From the raw material to the end product. If the proposal is adopted by the MEPs, products such as steel, stainless steel and aluminium of Chinese origin, which were produced in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, for example, would also be affected. This is one of the declared main objectives of the us policy, and in the future probably also of the European policy, against imports that have been produced using forced labour.
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