Taiwan’s upstream stainless steel mills raised their prices for April, driving up the stainless steel market. The prices of 304 cold-rolled and hot-rolled coils rose across the board, and the market circulation prices hiked accordingly. However, buying momentum has not increased significantly, downstream buyers are mostly taking a wait-and-see attitude, with flat trading volume.
Although China’s stainless steel futures have strengthened and prices of raw materials such as ferronickel have remained strong, international nickel prices have fallen, adding uncertainty to the market outlook.
Market participants said that the short-term market is expected to remain stable, but the international market conditions and policy impacts still need to be observed. In particular, after the US imposed reciprocal tariffs, imported resources may increase, and subsequent trends remain to be seen.