LME nickel stock exceeded 100,000 tonnes on Monday, reaching a new record high in the last 13 years. Nickel stock has continuously increased from December of 2008, exceeding 80,000 tonnes in January of 2009, and continually to rise. TheWBMS reported Wednesday that the refined Nickel market recorded a 54,100 tonne surplus at the end of 2008. It reported an additional 15,100 tonne surplus in January 2009. The closing price of Nickel on Wednesday was just below the $10,000 per tonne price at $9875.

Reuters have created a report for their "Metal Insiders" feature to review the reactions to the crazy high prices achieved in 2008 at the height of the commodity boom. It also expresses its opinions on how the could effect the future of demand due to the effect it has had on the stainless market in some instances scaring potential users into using alternatives.There is now a potential over supply in Nickel and this has had a detrimental effect on prices.This linked with the economic slump and the down turn in stainless steel usage doesn't look good in the short to medium term.With all the investment in future capacity the reliance is really on stainless growth to salvage the market

It has been announced in China that China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has been officially notified by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade that Russia will initiate an anti-dumping investigation into certain stainless steel sheet products imported from China.This was announced on March 17 and more details will follow.

Reuters have reported that Thai-German Products TGPR.BK, Thailand's leading stainless steel pipe maker, said on Tuesday it had shut down all production at its plant in the eastern province of Rayong, which would affect 5-7 percent of its annual sales. The news sent its stock down 3.85 percent to 0.25 baht at 0302 GMT, while the overall Thai stock market was 0.05 percent lower. The shutdown was mainly due to a dispute between the company and its labour union, which had demanded bonuses and other benefits for the 2008 performance, the company said in a statement. Thai-German has more than 4,000 tonnes of finished goods and raw material which should satisfy sales for at least four-to-six months, it said.

The South American steel industry has not escaped the global economic crisis. Demand for crude steel and steel products has fallen sharply in tandem with the global manufacturing slump and the cooling of China‘s once red-hot economy. After years of growth, Latin America╒s crude steel production was flat at 67.2 million metric tons in 2008, compared to 2007, according to the Latin American Iron and Steel Institute. The region managed to increase steel exports to China by 9 percent to 835,000 metric tons last year, but fourth-quarter results by major South American producers such as Gerdau show a dramatic market deterioration. Steel production in Chile, Colombia and Venezuela fell last year, and Brazilian ferroalloy exports dropped 51 percent to $88.9 million in December compared to a year earlier.