24 February 2022 – Especially nickel and aluminium values on the LME started trading with significant upward movements due to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine that broke out in the early morning hours. Longer-term contracts in particular are in demand. Ukraine fourth largest steel exporter in the world. Impact on availabilities expected.
More than 5% up, nickel and aluminium prices jump
Aluminium and nickel prices are rising sharply on the European LME this morning. Aluminium jumps by more than 4% at the start of trading, nickel even by more than 4.5%. By 7.45 a.m. GMT, both values were already up by more than 5.2% (Ni) and 5.66% (Al). The SHFE futures of aluminium and nickel had already reacted with gains, especially in the long-term contracts, due to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Longer-term effects expected
Already in the last few days, more significant price movements could be observed in the values for long-term contracts. This suggests that aluminium and nickel traders are expecting a longer-term impact on the global political situation. Which we believe will also have a longer-term impact on stainless steel and aluminium prices.
Ukraine fourth largest steel exporter in the world
In addition to commodities, we believe another factor plays a role. Namely, Ukraine is the fourth largest steel exporter in the world after China, Russia and Japan. Even though we would like to see an end to the conflict actions soon, if only from a human point of view, we do not believe that we are just witnessing a short-term unloading of political tensions. Unfortunately, this has probably only just begun and could thus once again tighten the supply of steel on the world market. Moreover, Russia is one of the largest aluminium producers and exporters in the world.
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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.
