Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing 

• Nickel closed Monday's trading session at $6.90/lb ($15,210/tonne). Indicators at 5:45 am CST today show nickel trading around $.05/lb v lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses ticked higher on Monday and started today's session reading just under the 172,600 tonne level. Shanghai markets will reopen tomorrow (tonight). The up and down continues with President Trump delaying his tariff's against Canada and Mexico for thirty days, and China retaliating against the 10% across the board tariff put in place against them. It also added five more minerals to those it has placed export restrictions on, including molybdenum. Nickel is trading lower this morning even though the Euro is higher. Lots of reports issued yesterday, and we post them as they might give some of you an idea of what the overall economy is doing, and potential problem areas building. As we have told our long time readers, one of the old time economic indicators was to watch where cardboard sales and fastener sales were heading since nearly every manufacturer uses both. Since every Amazon order uses cardboard boxes these days the numbers are somewhat skewed now, but old habits die hard, so we post them as well as many others. If they do not interest you they take up space on our daily page once a month. Stay safe out there and have a great Tuesday!
  
• Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month - $6.76/lb
  

    Monday's market review - Base Metals Erase Losses as Traders Weigh Scope of Trump Tariffs - Industrial metals from copper to aluminum erased losses as uncertainty swirled surrounding the scope of President ... - more

   Merafe Resources warns of ferrochrome furnaces closures amid ongoing market challenges - Merafe Resources has warned that it might begin to suspend certain of its ferrochrome furnaces in May 2025, which ... - more

   Ferrochrome producer in multi-million dollar expansion drive - Gweru-based Chinese ferrochrome producer Jinan has embarked on an expansion drive to improve its furnace to produce high grade ferrochrome and ... - more

   Courtesy AISI - In the week ending on February 1, 2025, domestic raw steel production was 1,656,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 74.4 percent. Production was 1,643,000 net tons in the week ending February 1, 2024, while the capability utilization then was 73.9 percent. - more

   Other News

• U.S. Tariffs on Mexican Imports are Paused for a Month - more
• Trump pauses Canadian tariffs for 30 days in deal with Trudeau - more
• China hits back with levies on US products after Trump's tariffs take effect - more
• What are five new critical metal exports restricted by China? - more

  Economic Stats and Prices (posted in Friday edition)

  Daily Nickel/Stainless Steel Briefing 

• Nickel closed Friday's trading session at $6.91/lb  ($15,240/tonne). Indicators at 6:00 am CST today show nickel trading around $.08/lb lower. Stockpiles of nickel stored in LME licensed warehouses rose on Friday and ended January reading near 172,500 tonnes. That is a gain of 10,026 tonnes during the month of January. Shanghai markets remain closed for holiday. A trade war began over the weekend, with the U.S. President deciding the trade agreement he renegotiated with Canada and Mexico and signed 5 years and 5 days ago, was apparently not good enough and slapped them both with 25% tariffs. Nickel was one of the exports from Canada into the US that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned when he announced retaliatory tariff's. Our government talks about securing minerals for the future, but of two neighbors who already produce nickel, we either refuse to trade with one, ie Cuba, or now want to penalize, ie Canada. Go figure. Stay safe out there and have a great Monday, week, and month!
  
• Average price of LME traded cash nickel so far this month - $6.98/lb (avg January)
  

    Friday's market review - Aluminium and copper prices fall on potential Trump tariffs - Aluminium and copper prices fell in London on Friday under pressure from a stronger dollar as global markets braced for ... - more

   Taiwan’s Yusco raises 304 prices by NT$1,000/ton for Feb - Yieh United Steel Corp. (Yusco), a leading stainless steel manufacturer in Taiwan, announced the new price adjustment of its stainless steel products ... - more

   Facing challenges, how would nickel companies fare in the future? - Slow nickel demand from China, the biggest global nickel importer, poses certain challenge for exporters like Indonesia. - more

   EU’s AD measure on hot-rolled stainless steel from Indonesia, Taiwan, China to expire in Oct 2025 - The European Commission announced that the anti-dumping (AD) duties on hot-rolled stainless steel sheets ... - more

   Trump imposes tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China... -   President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China — fulfilling one of his  ... - more

• Canadian Tariffs Will Undermine U.S. Minerals Security - more
• These numbers show how Trump’s tariffs will hit Canada - more
• Trudeau hits back at the U.S. with big tariffs after Trump launches a trade war - more
• Mexican president orders retaliatory tariffs on U.S. after Trump imposes 25% duty - more
• Trump vows to launch trade war on EU - more
• (5 years and 5 days ago) President Donald J. Trump’s United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Delivers a Historic Win for American Workers - more

   Importance of Certification in Industrial Stainless Steel Products - Industrial stainless steel products are commonly used in construction, food processing, chemical production, and other sectors where quality ... - more

   Other News

• Demand for copper, nickel, rare earths, lithium to quadruple by 2040, report says - more
• China is quietly seizing financial control of critical minerals... - more
• Elon Musk's 'Fork in the Road' email - online here

  Economic Stats and Prices (posted in Friday edition)