According to market sources, buyers have been adopting a wait-and-see approach in the local Turkish stainless steel market. Even though both Ramadan and the presidential elections are now over, market players state that the price trend is unpredictable in the local Turkish stainless steel market, while fluctuations in nickel prices contribute to the uncertainty in the market. At the beginning of July, cash and settlement nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) were at $18,280/mt, while they were at $18,850/mt at close of business on July 12, having fluctuated since the beginning of the month.
Demand in the local Turkish stainless steel market is still weak and mostly continues to weaken further. Offers for prime quality ready stock 304/2B stainless steel CRC of 2.0 mm thickness in the local Turkish market have remained unchanged over the past week and are still in the range of $2,800-3,100/mt ex-works. On the other hand, it is heard that traders are not as concerned as usual about prices and profit margins due to the tightness of liquidity and they are concluding deals below the price range in question in order to increase their sales volumes.
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