Market sources state that Turkish mills' local offers for prime quality 304/2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2.0 mm thickness for April
production have remained stable over the past week at $2,350-2,400/mt ex-works, for April deliveries. In the same period, Turkish traders' local stainless steel offers in the spot market are unchanged week on week at $2,450-2,500/mt ex-warehouse, for cash payments. Market sources state that demand for stainless steel in the Turkish domestic market has improved, following the price declines seen in the previous week.
On the other hand, according to market sources, offers from
Turkey to the export markets for the same stainless products have decreased by $50/mt during the past week to the range of $2,200-2,250/mt ex-works. Market sources state that they have had to revise their prices downwards following the decreases in nickel prices and they are concerned about how long this downtrend may last. Although ex-
Turkey stainless steel offers generally attract less interest in the global market, Turkish market players have continued to conclude stainless steel sales to Romania and Poland.
Meanwhile, offers for prime quality 304/2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2.0 mm thickness from China and Taiwan to the Turkish market have remained stable over the past week at $2,050-2,200/mt CIF Izmit. On the other hand, ex-
Europe stainless steel offers for second grade products are at €2,000/mt ex-works, while the quality of these materials is said to be equivalent to the quality of first grade products from the Far East.
The cash and settlement nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) has trended downwards since April 16, decreasing by $345/mt and closing the day at $12,545/mt on April 23.