Offer and transaction levels in the global stainless steel markets have indicated no significant changes, though nickel prices have recorded minor declines over the past week. Chinese stainless steel producers have announced that they will keep their offers stable for January shipments as compared to price levels for December delivery, while Far Eastern offers to Turkey for prime quality ready stock 304/2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2.0 mm thickness have not indicated any changes, ranging at $2,350-2,450/mt CIF Istanbul. While Chinese offers are standing at the lower end of the range, Taiwanese offers are standing at the higher end of these prices.
Meanwhile, Finland-based steelmaker Outokumpu has announced that it will increase its stainless steel list prices by €50/mt ($68/mt) for orders in the first quarter of 2014.
Nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) have weakened by $200/mt as compared to last week and as of the close of business yesterday, November 21, they were at $13,425/mt for cash settlements. The anticipation of an upward price trend for nickel prices in the coming months has created expectations for higher stainless steel prices in the long term.
Turkey's top sources for its stainless flat steel imports in the first nine months of this year, which totaled 350,797 mt, are as follows:
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€1 = $1.35