Stainless steel mills in China have lifted their nickel pig iron prices for June delivery because of  tight raw materials supply.

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Taigang Stainless Steel and Baosteel Stainless are both willing to pay 1,440 yuan ($233) per nickel unit for high grade NPI (Ni 10-15%) for June delivery.

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The price of Chinese ferro-chrome remained essentially flat at CNY 8,300 ($1,328) per metric ton. The price of Chinese ferro-moly saw little movement at CNY 145,000 ($23,199) per metric ton.

On the tail of a three-day flat streak, the Allegheny Ludlum 316 stainless surcharge rose by 11.2 percent, settling at $1.29 per pound. The price of Chinese 316 stainless coil was unchanged at CNY 26,000 ($4,160) per metric ton. For the fifth day in a row, the price of Chinese 304 stainless coil remained essentially flat at CNY 16,400 ($2,624) per metric ton. The price of Chinese 316 stainless steel scrap saw essentially no change for the fifth day in a row, remaining around CNY 16,100 ($2,576) per metric ton. For the fifth consecutive day, the price of Chinese 304 stainless steel scrap held flat at CNY 16,400 ($2,624) per metric ton.

After a 0.4 percent increase, the nickel 3-month price finished the day on the LME at $19,655 per metric ton. Weakening prices followed two days of improvement as the Indian nickel cash price dropped 0.1 percent to INR 1,165 ($19.73) per kilogram. On the LME, the spot price of nickel held steady around $19,625 per metric ton.