Update: LME has suspended nickel select contract trading again
16 March 2022 – The LME has had to suspend trading in the LMEselect 3 Month Nickel again due to a system error after the start of trading. According to a report by the London Metal Exchange, the background to this is that the price limit of 5% was not adhered to in some trades.
The London Metal Exchange has announced that it will investigate the system error and resume trading in LMEselect 3 Month Nickel as soon as possible.
According to the LME, the inter-office market and the ring for nickel trading will operate normally.
Stainless Espresso Special: Nickel – Prices down? Prices up? Prices high!
Nickel +5%, LME trades again
16 March 2022 – As announced, the LME this morning reset the price of nickel to the level of 7 March 2022. Available nickel lots on LME down 90%? Iran wants to introduce export taxes on steel and raw materials. In China, nickel and stainless steel prices continue to rise. And the European Union imposes countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties on stainless steel imports from India and Indonesia.
Restart: LME nickel up almost 5%
This morning, as announced, nickel on the London Metal Exchange was technically reset to the level of 7 March 2022. It then restarted trading at just under $42,000 per tonne. Shortly after, nickel had already reached the current upper price limit of 5% up, which had been introduced by the LME to regulate overheated nickel trading.
Live data does not yet appear to be available again, which is likely due to the LME’s restrictive measures to control nickel prices.
Available LME nickel lots down by more than 90%
While there were approximately 194,000 nickel lots available on the LME on 7 March 2022, looking at the stocks on 14 March, these have fallen to approximately 18,000 lots. This corresponds to a decline in availability of more than 90%. On the other hand, demand continues to be high, exceeding supply by up to 13 times.
Iran: Are export taxes on steel and raw materials coming?
Iran is a major steel producer and was ranked 10th in the world in 2020. It is also one of the 15 countries richest in raw materials in the world – zinc, lead, chrome, copper, coal and iron ores are found there in particular. Due to the changed geopolitical situation and the shortage of raw materials, the Iranian government is now considering the introduction of an export tax on steel and raw materials.
The Industry Ministry has already announced that export duties will be imposed on steel billets, slabs, direct reduced iron (DRI), pellets and concentrate.
China: Stainless steel and nickel prices
Chinese stainless steel futures continue to rise today. SHFE stainless steel contracts are up more than 5.2% on average. Spot prices for Chinese stainless steel also continue to rise. Analysts believe that demand from the downstream industry and rising raw material costs will continue to support prices throughout the year. Nickel on the SHFE rose sharply again today in trading, up more than 7% (ni2204).
EC imposes countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties on Indian and Indonesian stainless steel
The European Commission today published countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel cold-rolled flat products originating in India and Indonesia.
This means that additional countervailing duties of up to 7.5% on Indian stainless steel and up to 21.4% on Indonesian stainless steel will apply from today, 16 March 2022.
The anti-dumping duties amount to up to 35.3% on Indian stainless steel and up to 20.2% on Indonesian stainless steel imports.
This means that AD/CVD duties of up to 42.8% can now be imposed on Indian stainless steel imports and AD/CVD duties up to 41.6% on Indonesian stainless steel imports to the EU.
Latest news
- LME nickel trading to start on 16 March 2022
- EU sanctions against Russian steel exports
- Tsingshan had to be rescued by the state
We at the Gerber Group have been trading in stainless steel worldwide for over 20 years. We are your experts when it comes to purchasing, import, logistics and services. Information is a vital part of this. Because only then can you and we make the right decisions. Do you have any questions? Contact us now.
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.
