Nickel prices are cooling. But the structural risks behind stainless steel pricing are not disappearing.

Following the recent pullback in nickel futures, market sentiment has temporarily eased as expectations surrounding Indonesia's export tax implementation continue to delay. At the same time, Philippine nickel ore supply has entered its seasonal recovery phase, putting additional short-term pressure on raw material pricing.

However, the market may be underestimating a deeper shift now taking place across the stainless steel supply chain.

Indonesia is no longer operating only as a resource exporter. It is gradually reshaping regional raw material control through policy direction, quota systems, and strategic cooperation with the Philippines.

This matters because future stainless steel pricing may become increasingly influenced not only by nickel itself, but by geopolitical resource management and government-controlled supply structures.

Meanwhile, another divergence is becoming more visible inside the stainless steel market itself:

While 304 stainless steel remains under inventory and pricing pressure, molybdenum-bearing grades such as 316L and Duplex 2205 continue strengthening due to rising molybdenum costs and overseas mine power restrictions.

In other words:

The stainless steel market is no longer moving as a single sector.

Different grades are beginning to react to entirely different cost structures and resource dynamics.

At DONG-YU STEEL, we believe the next stage of the market will belong to companies capable of understanding not only price fluctuations, but the deeper structural logic behind them.

Because in today's market, timing alone is not enough.

Understanding supply chain direction has become equally important.