In the current week, Turkish stainless steel producers were expected to revise their prices upwards amid rising production costs amid the increases seen in global nickel quotations in the first half of the week. However, global nickel prices have switched to downward trend in the last days of the week, preventing any possible hikes in domestic stainless steel prices in Turkey. As a result, it is observed that domestic stainless steel prices in Turkey have remained stable during the past week. Accordingly, prices of 2 mm 304 grade 2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) are still at $2,650-2,750/mt ex-works and prices of 2 mm 430 grade 2B stainless steel CRC are standing at $1,650-1,750/mt ex-works. According to market sources, demand in the local Turkish stainless steel market is at decent levels.
Cash nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed the day at $13,510/mt on March 1.