It's reported that Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless (NSSC) announced to raise its domestic prices for stainless steel rods for March-May contracts in order to reflect higher alloy costs and stronger Japanese Yen. The company will increase its domestic prices for 304 grade rods by ¥45,000/ton. Among then, ¥35,000/ton is to reflect higher nickel prices and the remaining is to reflect its other input costs. Besides, the company increased its prices for 430 grade rod by ¥20,000/ton, including ¥10,000/ton to reflect higher ferrochrome prices and the remaining to reflect input costs. NSSC stated that the average nickel prices increased to US$7.84/lb. from US$7.73/lb. during December 20th through March 25th. Also, the ferrochrome prices rose to US$1.205/lb. in the given period of time from US$1.18/lb. in October-December.
