As contributed to nickel price shooting up to the ceiling over US$45,000, stainless steel prices have been consecutively hiked by over US$600/mt for 304 and over US$800/mt for 316L in the past three months since the beginning of 2007, yet subject to another rise over US$200 in April, not to mention the over 20 percent production cut in effect to offset today's high production cost.

While carbon steel is not "still", either, Baosteel and Wuhan Steel have implemented a steep 7 percent hike for carbon steel due to second quarter strong demand.

Some market analysts have warned for fear of last July's price plunge in China may re-occur in this year's summer when most prime western customers sideline from the market for vacationing even over 2 months long.

Oil plunged below US$60/barrel, after jumping on a series of roller-coasts hike over US$80/barrel as what goes up must come down someday.

Will this apply to nickel to stop stainless prices from rising further? Shall we brace for a price slump this summer due to unprecedented high steel prices? -Only the market can tell!