Nickel Prices Rise Sharply, Adding Pressure to Stainless Steel Costs

Nickel prices have moved up noticeably over the past week. LME three-month nickel was around US$18,250/MT in mid-April and reached about US$19,015/MT by April 24, with market quotations on April 27 rising further to around US$19,400/MT. This indicates a gain of roughly 4% to 6% within about one week to ten days.

For stainless steel buyers, this matters because nickel is one of the key alloying elements in 300-series stainless grades such as 304 and 316. As alloy costs rise, stainless steel prices and alloy surcharges may also come under upward pressure, especially for nickel-bearing grades.