Driven by soaring international nickel and ferrochrome prices and continuously rising export offers from Indonesia Tsingshan, Taiwan’s upstream suppliers’ prices and market prices of stainless steel rose greatly in August.

Taiwan’s stainless steel flat-rolled products market has been benefited from order diversions since the second quarter of this year due to China’s cancellation of export tax rebates in May, and market prices have continued surging since the end of April. Although the purchasing slowed down in June owing to the severe COVID-19 epidemic in Taiwan, the exporting order diversions could support steel prices.

According to market participants, the current prices of 304 cold-rolled and hot-rolled products have hit a new high this year.