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  • 1.  Nickel and LME (2022)

    Posted 04-04-2022 12:43
    Would anyone like to comment on the fiasco
    with nickel on the London Metals Exchange (LME)?

    Google: news: nickel LME

    You will find plenty of timely articles from
    Bloomberg, The Guardian, South China
    Morning Post, Financial Times, Mining, etc....

    I assume this will soon impact the pricing
    on military, industrial, and consumer products
    using nickel alloys and stainless 300-series.

    thanks and kind regards,
    - Jim Quinn
    Long Island Chapter

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    James Quinn
    Dir. of Laboratories
    Stony Brook University
    Stony Brook NY
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  • 2.  RE: Nickel and LME (2022)

    Posted 04-05-2022 08:30
    Jim,

    Thanks for sharing this. This prompted a broader question in my mind about price (of metals or alloying elements) as a material property and how price affects materials selection and other engineering decisions, particularly in a time of price volatility.

    Scott

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    Scott Henry
    Senior Content Engineer
    ASM International
    Materials Park OH
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  • 3.  RE: Nickel and LME (2022)

    Posted 04-05-2022 11:26
    @Scott Henry I was talking about this very point just yesterday with someone in regard to another element and they said that price volatility was one motivation for them to look at alternative chemistries.  Obviously, this was a more minor element (in terms of composition amount) but price volatility, supply chain stability, recyclability, sustainability etc, all are starting to be part of the conversation.  ​​

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    Paul Mason
    President
    Thermo Calc Software Inc,Thermo-Calc Software Inc.
    McMurray PA
    (724) 518-7334
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  • 4.  RE: Nickel and LME (2022)

    Posted 04-06-2022 11:02
    Price (and price volatility) is an issue that deserves greater attention than it usually gets, especially in publications. One problem is that by the time something is published, prices may have changed significantly. 

    The last time (2007) that nickel prices spiked sharply upward, there was great interest in substituting lower-Ni alloys such as 200-series stainless steels, or even Ni-free ferritic stainless steels, for 300-series austenitic stainless steels.

    --
    John Grubb



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  • 5.  RE: Nickel and LME (2022)

    Posted 04-05-2022 11:54
    Nickel price will definitely have a huge impact on many products.
    Apart from the commercial aspect we need to look for alternatives.
    A few examples being use of Duplex stainless steel instead of austenetic grades.
    Use of alternate alloying elements wherever possible.
    I am sure all the minds that n ASM can find many solutions

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    Rahul Gupta
    Managing Director
    N D Gupta Enterprises
    Pune
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    RahulRahulRahul
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  • 6.  RE: Nickel and LME (2022)

    Posted 04-06-2022 04:40
    In particular replying to Scott Henry, this is a question that can be followed back in time and will be of interest to members of the Archaeometallurgy Committee. My own research on copper at the end of the 18th century shows the effect of the rising price of copper in a time of war. Prices could rise quite fast but there were no really sharp spikes. One could go back to the 16th century when Henry VIII was re-arming the Royal Navy and buying copper on the European market because England was not producing its own at that time. To pay for this and other policies' he had to debase the currency.

    And that, of course is another use of nickel, as a component of may coinage alloys. Much small change (remember that?) these days is clad, reducing the demand for nickel.

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    Peter Northover
    Retired
    University of Oxford
    +44 1865 820543
    peter.northover@retired.ox.ac.uk
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