Export prices for Chinese stainless steel experienced an uptick in the past week after the nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange rose above $15,000 per tonne for the first time this year on Tuesday August 6.
Concerns in recent days over the possibility that Indonesia's export ban on unprocessed nickel ore would be brought forward from 2022, and disruptions to mining operations in the country as well as Brazil and New Caledonia drove prices for the alloying metal upward.The three-month nickel contract on the LME ended the official trading on Wednesday at $14,740-14,745 per tonne, up $365 per tonne from a week earlier. The contract price had risen to as high as $15,025-15,030 per tonne on Tuesday, and is averaging at $14,697 per tonne so far this month, compared with July's average of $13,515 per tonne.Stainless cold-rolled coil Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled coil, 2mm grade 304 export,...