Reportedly, stainless steel prices are expected to surge in March, driven by the sharply rising nickel prices at LME which is over US$28,000/ton.

It’s known that the nickel average prices have hike by US$3,000/ton at least, compared to US$24,000/ton in the end of January.

Hence, market participants estimated that the Taiwan stainless steel mills such as Yieh United Steel Corp. (Yusco) and Tang Eng would probably lift the prices by NT$7,000~NT$8,000/ton.

However, dealers pointed out that even the nickel prices haves stayed in upward trend, the market demand is not as good as expectation. Thus, it may take time to see whether the market could accept the price hike.