This Morning in Metals: Nickel Falls to 11-Month Low

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This morning in metals news, the nickel price has plunged to its lowest level in 11 months, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with President Donald Trump over the weekend regarding the U.S.’s steel and aluminum tariffs, and two train derailments appear to have had little impact on Australia’s iron ore sector.
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Nickel Falls to 11-Month Low

The nickel price dropped to an 11-month low Monday, Reuters reported, based on worries of slowing Chinese steel demand.
LME nickel fell 1%, while the most-traded Shanghai nickel contract fell 2.4%, according to the report.
MetalMiner’s Take: While nickel falls to an 11-month low, the MetalMiner analyst team has a close eye on several key metals market price drivers.
Oil prices have begun to drop but remain above the $58/barrel level, which serves as the long-term bear/bull threshold. As oil prices currently remain above that level, the long-term trend remains bullish.
The other key price driver to watch is the U.S. dollar, which has increased. However, it remains below the key resistance level MetalMiner has set as the level at which the markets turn from bullish to bearish.
MetalMiner readers will note the dollar and commodities trade inversely, so a higher dollar results in lower commodity prices.
Metal-buying organizations will want to pay careful attention now to oil prices, the U.S. dollar and China demand. A change in any two of these three could signal a market shift.

Trudeau, Trump Talk Tariffs

As world leaders gathered in France this weekend for the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump exchanged words over the weekend regarding the U.S.’s steel and aluminum tariffs, Reuters reported.
Canada’s temporary exemption to the U.S.’s Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs expired June 1.
According to the report, Trudeau said he hoped to reach a resolution on the issue before this year’s G20 Summit, which kicks off Nov. 30 in Buenos Aires.

Australian Iron Ore

A pair of recent train derailments have had minimal impact on Australia’s substantial iron ore sector, according to a Bloomberg report.
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According to the report, iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1% Monday.

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