Turkish industry in general has been at holiday mood for three weeks. Except few ones, it can be said that almost all sectors are currently sluggish in Turkey for the time being. As automotive sector is slightly lively, white gods sector is very active at the moment. It is observed that the Turkish white goods sector has gained momentum lately. Due to the revival in the Far East and due to the fact that the Turkish white goods producers have taken part in Europe, sector is very active. However, aliveness in this sector seems inadequate and "save the day" mood for stainless sector. If there will be no revival in Europe on the upcoming days, Turkish stainless market may experience difficult days. In any case, number of firms in the sector (that include lot of SME - small and medium sized enterprises). It is expected that there will be more firms to be closed and the effect of the steel service centers will increase in the future.
Regarding prices, they have not decrease significant downtrend due to the fact that the supply has been kept limited. Even, prices have registered uptrend under the influence of slight demand increase in June and July. Nickel prices had increased to $20,000/mt; however, they have stopped moving up under the influence of decrease in China and have started to register stability. Nickel prices have reduced to the level of $18,950/mt as this report has been written, August 18.
What will happen in the near future? It seems that a slight recovery will be likely observed in the industrial figures. It is almost certain that the demand will register recovery in Europe as of early September. However, this movement will be slow ad gradually. Under the influence of recent industrial developments and investments in the Far East, some countries with strong local markets such as China and India have been consuming stainless materials. However, the continuity of this demand is a question mark. It can be said that these regions are showing the optimistic side of global economy. It seems that these countries will close 2009 fiscal year with over five percent growth while the most of the world is experiencing recession. This situation is creating demand for the stainless materials just like other steel products.
Meanwhile, it seems that the stainless producers in Europe will not increase their production capacities unless demand recovers. For this reason, a price softening is unlikely if the supply for stainless products do not increase and if the demand from the Far East does not register downtrend. However, in general, the market players think that current price levels are at high levels when they are compared to demand levels. Thus, they claim that the prices should register softening. However, while considering the production costs, stainless producers are tightening their supplies in order to keep the price levels below certain levels. It is obvious that this controversy will continue in the near future.