Nickel prices, which had increased to $18,000/mt last week, have continued their uptrend this week, with the cash seller and settlement price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closing at $18,430/mt on April 24.
Stainless flat steel prices have remained firm both in the Turkish and global markets on the back of rising nickel prices. Offers for prime quality 304/2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2.0 mm thickness from China and Taiwan to Turkey have remained unchanged since last week and are still in the range of $2,500-2,600/mt CIF for products ready in stocks, while market sources state that offers for materials to be produced in the coming period are $50-100/mt higher than this range.
On the other hand, prices of 300 series material in the local Chinese stainless steel market have indicated significant increases this week.
Taiwan's YUSCO will announce its list prices for May production in the coming week and market sources report that both YUSCO's domestic and export prices are expected to rise. The Taiwanese producer had increased its 304/2B stainless steel CRC prices by $30-100/mt at the beginning of April.
According to the Stainless Steel Report April 2014 issued by German-based service center Damstahl, stainless steel production in Europe has decreased slightly even though stainless steel demand in the region has risen.