China stainless steel export prices rise on higher production costs

摘要

Chinese stainless steel export prices have increased, after producers returned from the Golden Week holiday to find production costs rising due to a surge in nickel prices, market sources told Fastmarkets this week. The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange has averaged $17,560 per tonne so far in October, compared with August’s average of $15,661 per tonne. Market participants in China were on vacation from October 1-7 to mark the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The surge in the LME nickel price resulted from Indonesia’s announcement of a ban on nickel ore exports in September.