Taiwan’s stainless steel market prices slightly hiked by NT$500/ton recently, driven up by higher prices of raw materials such as LME nickel and China’s nickel pig iron. Market participants said the recent inquiry has rebounded with some transactions.

Since this week, the LME nickel price has performed strongly, climbing to US$23,275/ton yesterday, a hike of nearly 10% or US$2,000 within a week.
Besides, China’s nickel pig iron price has risen to above CNY 1,100/ton, supporting the mills’ production cost.

Upheld by raw material prices and China’s interest rate cuts and other favorable policies, China’s ni2307 also stood at above CNY 170,000/ton, a monthly increase of more than CNY 10,000. Stainless steel futures had slight increases every day, but the demand hasn't been strong enough to obviously support ss2307 contract prices.