Nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME), which had closed at $16,460/mt for cash settlement on July 6, have this week declined below the level of $16,000/mt for the first time this year, closing on July 12 at $15,840/mt for cash settlements.
In the meantime, market players state that the decline in nickel prices will likely be reflected in
stainless steel mills' prices. Therefore, import offers for austenitic products to
Turkey may also soften slightly. For now, import offers for 304 2B
stainless steel cold rolled coils (CRC) of 2 mm thickness to
Turkey are trending sideways at $2,700-2,800/mt CFR. As SteelOrbis reported last week, Turkish
stainless steel buyers still prefer to import excess supply and second grade products from Europe at low prices.
In the global
stainless steel markets, demand has remained weak and still showing signs of contraction. Accordingly, Chinese steel producer
Baosteel has announced a decrease of $120/mt in its 304
stainless steel hot rolled coil (HRC) prices for deliveries in September.