In the second quarter of the current year, end-user demand in the global stainless steel markets has weakened mainly due to reduced manufacturing output as a result of the economic slowdown in major markets such as China and Europe. Amid weak market conditions, stainless steel producers have sought to find temporary solutions by cutting their production or by carrying out maintenance at production lines. Low end-user demand has also caused traders to adopt a more cautious manner, to reduce their orders and to keep their inventories as lean as possible. Stainless steel prices, in the meantime, have decreased gradually in this period, but are foreseen to rebound in the second half of this year, more particularly in the last quarter.
The Turkish stainless steel market, with its import dependent structure, has been affected negatively by the overall weakness in the global stainless steel market, also witnessing price declines. Market players state that the market is currently sluggish due to Ramadan and the summer holiday period. However, the consensus is for a revival, even partial, which would begin in September and last until the end of the year.
Over the past week, Turkish buyers' purchase prices for European and Far Eastern origin 304/2B premium quality stainless cold rolled coil (CRC) of 2 mm in thickness have remained unchanged at $2,650-2,700/mt CFR. In the meantime, stainless steel mills in Taiwan, Turkey's main stainless steel import source, are expected to announce a price increase for August soon.
During the past week, although nickel prices trended down, towards the end of this week they have again moved up towards $16,000/mt, closing at $15,930/mt at the London Metal Exchange (LME) on July 26.