Coils, bars, tubes, sheet, wire of stainless steel costs are constantly under market pressure. However we see two key factors to keep the eye on it more than ever.

1- Batteries, electric cars and the stocks of Nickel.

Recently we can see a constant reduction of stocks of the London Metal Exchange. Let’s see the latest chart and judge yourself.

Courtesy infomine.com

It it’s true that not all the Nickel metal in the world is negotiated in the LME. But this is a clear insight that something is happen. There are macroeconomic worries that the electric cars will need more sulphate Nickel in coming years than the market can supply today. Nickel sulphate it is not exactly the same raw Nickel that the mills are melting. But the source of both are extracted in the same mines, same origin. Today car manufacturers are coping with shortages of cell batteries and rising prices. Some are arguing that deficits and strong market consumption were finally cutting stockpiles and rising prices.

What is the problem?

According Reuters, there is no real prospect of shortage. Because trade data shows that much of the Nickel departing from Malaysia and Indonesia is kept safe in non-registered Netherlands private depots. In the next chart, we can see that overnight, the Netherlands has become a champion Nickel buyer.