Import prices for stainless steel in East Asia increased again over the past week, with mills continuing to raise their offers amid costlier nickel, although trading activity was slow because of the upcoming Lunar New Year.
Fastmarkets MB's import price assessment for 304 stainless 2mm trimmed cold-rolled coil in East Asia was $1,920-2,010 per tonne cif for the week to Wednesday January 30, up $20-40 per tonne from a week earlier.Fastmarkets MB's import price assessment for 304 stainless trimmed hot-rolled coil in the same region was $1,790-1,880 per tonne cif for the same period, up $20-30 per tonne week on week."Stainless steel prices are slowly but surely moving up, and the slow pace of price increases is due to the Lunar New Year putting the Asian market in a holiday mood," a producer source in Southeast Asia said.In particular, Chinese market participants showed little interest to sell or buy...