With the growing pandemic affecting every country around the world, the market has been thrown into chaos regarding future uncertainties of the economic landscape. Companies are closing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus to workers as employees are telecommuting. Many manufacturers have cut back on their production lines or are switching over their lines to produce needed medical supplies for hospitals and clinics.
Due to these many factors, the commodities market has seen many ups and downs in regards to the pricing of common metals such as copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), tin (Sn) and zinc (Zn). Belmont Metals has been watching the commodities pricing index closely to see the current prices and the market fluctuations so that we can offer our customers the competitive prices that they desire for these metal commodities.
Here are the current commodity prices for these four metals as of April 3, 2020.
Copper Prices
Copper is one of the most common metals in the world. It is used in a range of industries such as construction, electronics and manufacturing. Recently, copper has experienced a price decline.
Due to the slowing down of the economy due to the trade war, copper prices were consistenly falling. As the pandemic rolled across the world, the metal logged a 13th straight session decline in February at $5,471.00 USD per ton as copper consumption remained low.
Investor fears regarding the impacts of Covid-19 on the economy and with unessential businesses shutting down had also significantly impacted prices for this base metal during the month of March 2020. Copper prices reached their lowest levels in March that haven’t been seen since 2016 as prices hit $4,371 per metric ton on the LME. Now in April, copper had a price of $4,863.50 USD per ton.
Nickel Prices
With more technologies becoming portable and with automobiles switching to electric power, nickel has been in the spotlight due to its versatility in battery packs and rechargeable batteries. It’s high resistance to corrosion and heat make it desirable as an alloy to be used to provide strength and other properties in base metals.
Like copper, nickel experienced price declines from the fall of 2019. The price fall was contributed to the decrease of demand from the stainless steel sector. Asian companies turn to nickel pig iron in its manufacturing processes for stainless steel. However, these companies began cutting back on their production lines due to having high stock as well as lower profits. Stainless steel output fell by 2% in November, causing nickel prices to also fall.
Currently, nickel prices have not seen major price fluctuations from March into April. On April 3, 2020, commodity prices for nickel were at $11,192.00 USD per ton, as it was down -0.25 with a -28.00. On March 20, 2020, nickel was priced at $11,370.00 USD per ton.
Tin Prices
Tin metal is used in a range of products including metal cans. It is also used to make alloys as it offers high malleability and ductility to base metals. The metal can also be used as a deoxidizer to remove oxygen during the smelting process. Due to government involvement with the production of tin, prices can be impacted.
In July 2019, tin prices went into a freefall and plunged the most in more than seven years on the London Metal Exchange. There was a drop of 6.3% as prices came to $17,700 per metric ton. The cause of this decline was due to investor sell-off from China’s onshore metals market. In addition, the semiconductor industry in Korea saw a sharp decline of sales as Japan blocked component exports from South Korea.
On March 20, 2020, the metal had a closing price of $13,790.00 USD per ton. Fast forwarding to April 3rd, the tin commodity market closed at $14,465.00 USD per ton. While it saw a modest upward gain, the price of tin is still down from prices in 2019.
Zinc Prices
The corrosion resistant properties of zinc are highly desired in manufacturing processes around the world. It is placed into steel and iron to galvanize it. Brass is one commonly known copper alloy that has zinc added, as supply and demand from emerging and established markets control the commodities pricing for this metal.
Due to the declines in demand for base metals throughout 2019, the price of zinc also experienced a slump. The ongoing trade war between the United State and China has had a significant impact on base metal demand. Zinc prices fell from $2,747.74 USD per ton in May 2019 to $2,275.14 USD per ton in August 2019 as zinc used in galvanization techniques for iron and steel corrosion resistance was hampered due to the trade uncertainties.
In February 2020, zinc prices reached their lowest levels since June 2016 at $2,120.48 USD per ton due to investor worries regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as prices have remained turbulent. Zinc closed at the price of $1,862.00 USD per ton on April 3, 2020.
If you are a manufacturer looking for the most competitive prices for copper, zinc, tin and nickel metals and alloys, turn to Belmont Metals. We are your non-ferrous metal specialists.