Having already been weak due to Ramadan and the snap election to be held on June 24, demand in the local Turkish stainless steel market has slowed down further over the past week. Turkish stainless steel producers were considering increasing their domestic offers due to higher production costs against the backdrop of the uptrend of global nickel prices, but the weakness of demand has prevented them from doing so. Market sources state that Turkish mills are resolved to increase their domestic stainless steel prices and are planning to make an upward revision in the coming period.
Turkish stainless steel producers’ domestic prices of 304 grade 2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) are still at $2,700-2,800/mt ex-works, while prices of 430 grade 2B stainless steel CRC are standing at $1,650-1,750/mt ex-works.
On the other hand, on May 31, global cash nickel prices cash nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed the day at $15,200/mt.