Having started to recover during the previous week, demand in the local Turkish stainless steel market has strengthened further over the past week. Meanwhile, global nickel prices have increased sharply in the given period, resulting in a significant increase in Turkish stainless steel producers’ production costs. However, Turkish mills have adopted a cautious stance and have kept their prices week on week, as they prefer to monitor global nickel prices for now. Also, Turkish stainless steel producers are unwilling to conclude new deals, according to market sources.
As a result, domestic stainless steel prices in Turkey have remained stable during the past week and prices of 304 grade 2B stainless steel cold rolled coil (CRC) are still at $2,700-2,800/mt ex-works, while prices of 430 grade 2B stainless steel CRC are standing at $1,650-1,750/mt ex-works. However, Turkish mills are planning to increase their prices in the short term if global nickel prices remain at their high levels.
On April 19, cash nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME), which were at $14.150/mt in early this week, closed the day at $15,710/mt. Despite their declines observed in mid-week, cash nickel prices have increased by a total of $1,560/mt this week.