Mr Adrian Gardner associate consultant for the Brook Hunt unit of Wood Mackenzie forecasts that with stainless steel production crashing worldwide this year, demand for key alloy nickel is sliding and its world price will average USD 5.10 per pound, a 47% drop from USD 9.57 in 2008.

He said that world use of stainless steel dropped by 8% in 2008 and is on pace to slide another 13% in 2009 to 18.25 million tonnes. That has caused production cutbacks worldwide and reduced the global need for nickel. He added that "The market changed quickly late last year."

Mr Gardner's analysis shows that there has been reduced buying of nickel based stainless steel by makers of motor vehicles, major appliances, machinery and construction products. He said that "Available data may suggest we've seen the worst of the stainless steel demand decline."

(Sourced from www.purchasing.com)