Outokumpu, Aperam and Acciai Speciali Terni, leading stainless steel producers in Europe, have increased their alloy surcharges, excluding grade 430, for January. After fluctuating throughout most of the current month, the cash seller and settlement nickel price at London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $15,275/mt on December 24, indicating a total decrease of $975/mt compared to December 1. While nickel prices have declined during the final days of the months, this had not had any negative impact on the alloy surcharges as the improvement seen in nickel prices in November has continued to provide support for alloy surcharges.
The above producers' alloy surcharges for January 2015 are as follows:
Producer/ Grade | Outokumpu (€/mt) | Monthly change (€/mt) | Aperam | Monthly change (€/mt) | Acciai Speciali Terni (/mt)) | Monthly change (€/mt) |
430 | 439 ($536/mt) | -5 ($6/mt) | 430 ($525/mt) | -7 ($9/mt) | 449 ($548/mt) | -6 ($7/mt) |
304 | 1,327 ($1,619/mt) | +80 ($98/mt) | 1,287 ($1,570/mt) | +67 ($82/mt) | 1,325 ($1,617/mt) | +84 ($102/mt) |
316 | 1,928 ($2,352/mt) | +79 ($96/mt) | 1,854 ($2,262/mt) | +72 ($88/mt) | 1,925 ($2,349/mt) | +86 ($105/mt) |
€1 = $1.22