LME nickel price has remained high over the US$20,000/ton level so far yesterday (December 28), which led to high costs of nickel-containing stainless steel screws.

According to market participants in the stainless steel screw industry in Taiwan, the surging nickel price raised their costs of raw materials by nearly 40%. Coupled with the increase in prices of pickling, electro galvanizing, washers, packaging materials, as well as transportation, the stainless steel industry’s profits were diluted seriously.

Due to the continuous rising prices of international raw materials, many fastener manufacturers will hike their quotations from next year in order to reflect costs and increase profits.