Yieh Hsing and Walsin Lihwa, two leading wire rod manufacturers in Taiwan, will announce their stainless steel wire rod prices for February in recent days. Industry players said that there the prices would be driven by the rise in raw materials.

The LME nickel price has risen by more than 4% over the past week. It slightly dropped by 0.51%, reaching US$16,435/ton at 6 am Taipei time today. The price trend would influence new prices of stainless steel wire rods.

For the outlook, market participants thought that whether there will be a recovery needs to be further observed after the Lunar New Year. China's government recently announced a cut of 50 basis points in the reserve ratio requirements for banks to rescue the economy, which is expected to stimulate demand for stainless steel if the policy effectively promotes economic recovery in the future.