After the upward movement in nickel prices, this week stainless steel mills are careful not to reduce their offers too much. As of today, November 30, stainless steel producers in the international markets have started to declare their list prices for December, while many of them will likely keep their prices unchanged as compared to previous price levels. Meanwhile, South Korean producer POSCO and Taiwanese mill YUSCO have keep their stainless offers unchanged for December, as expected.
In the meantime, stainless steel demand in the Turkish domestic market has remained at moderate levels, while in the current period stainless steel mills are focused on concluding annual supply deals for 2013. Ex-Asia stainless steel import offers to Turkey are standing at $2,700-2,800/mt CFR for production material, while it is possible to hear ex-China and ex-Taiwan stainless steel offers at $2,600-2,700/mt for ready stock and second grade materials.
On the other hand, major European stainless steel mills, such as Outokumpu, Acerinox, ThyssenKrupp and Aperam, have decreased their alloy extras for December by as much as $143-147/mt. This decrease may be reflected in ex-Europe stainless steel offers.