Turkish stainless steel market still stagnant

The Turkish domestic stainless steel market has witnessed poor demand this week, with traders remaining cautious towards concluding new bookings. Towards the end of the last week, transaction activity showed some improvement as the month was about to end, though the market has slowed down again this week. Currently, Turkish traders are abstaining from giving orders for premium quality stainless steel products, having difficulty in predicting the likely trends of import offers in the weeks to come, and these traders are supplying their needs from the domestic market in smaller tonnages.
 
In the Turkish domestic market, the prices for 304 2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2 mm thickness are standing at $3,300-3,400/mt ex-warehouse. Far Eastern producers offers to Turkey for similar materials are at $2,850-2,900/mt CFR, while European producers' offers are at $2,900-3,000/mt CFR.
 
After trending down throughout March, world nickel prices have started to rise as of March 30 and reached $17,865/mt on the London Metal Exchange (LME) yesterday, April 5. The average nickel offer prices for three-month contracts have increased by about $1,250 /mt as compared to last week. As of today, April 6, while nickel prices continue to rise, it is thought that these increases may result in greater activity in the stainless steel market next week.