Walsin Lihwa, a leading stainless steel wire rod manufacturer in Taiwan, announced to hike its new prices for stainless steel wire rods for December.

For domestic sales, the price of 304 was up by NT$3,000/ton, 200 series’ price was up by NT$1,000/ton, and 316 was largely raised by NT$4,500/ton. For export sales, 304, 200 series, and 316 products will be subject to a price increase of US$100/ton, US$30/ton, and US$150/ton, respectively.

According to Walsin Lihwa, the prices of nickel and molybdenum, the main raw materials of stainless steel, climbed in November, of which the average price of nickel rose as high as US$3,200/ton, increasing stainless steel scrap prices and mills’ production costs.

However, the overall demand from domestic and overseas markets hasn’t fully recovered yet, so Walsin Lihwa only took a moderate price adjustment to reflect part of the costs.