In the last week of February, Far Eastern stainless steel producers have announced their list prices for March. Chinese steelmakers Taiyuan Iron and Steel (TISCO) and Baosteel have kept their austenitic prices stable month on month, while Taiwan's YUSCO has also maintained its March delivery stainless steel prices unchanged at the previous levels.
In the meantime, demand has remained sluggish in the local Chinese stainless steel market, with activity on the poor side, while prices have generally trended sideways, though slight declines have been observed for some grades.
Meanwhile, activity is slow in the European stainless steel markets. However, early this week Finland-based Outokumpu increased its alloy surcharges for 300 series materials amid predictions of upward movement in stainless steel prices and expectations that nickel prices will fluctuate within a range of $200/mt for a while.
Nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) have not shown any big changes. LME nickel prices, which were at $14,185/mt as of yesterday, February 27, for cash settlements, are not expected to indicate any significant change from their recent levels.
On the other hand, with low demand in the local Turkish market, Far Eastern offers to Turkey for prime quality ready stock 304/2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2.0 mm thickness are still standing at $2,300-2,450/mt CIF Istanbul, remaining unchanged since last week.