The current international nickel price is having a substantial adjustment. With a strong overall economy and China’s projects of infrastructure and subsidy policies for new energy vehicles, the demand for stainless steel and nickel was projected to increase. Yieh United Steel Corp. (Yusco) and Tang Eng Iron Works Co., Ltd., two leading stainless steel upstream suppliers in Taiwan, were also expected to have an optimistic prospect in the stainless steel market.

Due to China’s promotion of the new subsidy policies for new energy vehicles, the domestic sales of new energy vehicles in China are likely to increase by more than 30% to 9 million units. It was believed that the prices of nickel, a key raw material for electric vehicle batteries, may be affected in the future due to the potentially significant increase in demand.