It is reported that Japanese stainless steel mills will start to purchase nickel based stainless steel scrap.

The price has plunged since this week and the current purchasing price is down to JPY 120,000 to JPY 130,000 per tonne which is similar to the price of 4 years ago and will lower further. Meanwhile, the current nickel cash price is USD 6.14 per pound on the LME. Moreover, some of Chinese main stainless steel mills have ceased their output in order to stabilize the stainless steel price.

The output volume of nickel based stainless steel scrap is about 70,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes per month in Japan, they generally sell above 90% to both Korea and China, however, the volume has started to be restricted and it will cause the price to be unstable in the future.

(Sourced from YIEH.corp)