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Among the major base metals, only nickel prices were in positive territory for the year-to-date at the London Metal Exchange. So far this year, tin prices have had the worst performance (-11%), while nickel prices have soared 34% higher as compared to the end of 2018.
Nickel futures at the London Metal Exchange traded as high as $15,115 per metric ton in July but have subsequently pulled back below $14,400/mt. But that’s still up significantly from the beginning of the year when nickel prices were trading around $10,500/mt and the best performance among the major base metals so far this year:
The recent rise in nickel prices comes despite reports of lower stainless steel output in China and globally early in the year. According to figures from the International Stainless Steel Forum, global stainless steel melt shop production declined 2.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019 to 12.46 million tons as Chinese production slipped 1.5%, output in the rest of Asia was off 5.7%, and stainless production in the U.S. was reportedly down 2.0% Y-o-Y in the first quarter.
Of note, the International Copper Study Group reports that global secondary refined copper production (from scrap) during Jan-Apr 2019 was up slightly (+0.5%) over the corresponding period last year to 1.362 million metric tons.
Here’s a synopsis of the trends in nonferrous metal markets: