Outokumpu, Aperam and Acciai Speciali Terni, leading stainless steel producers in Europe, have increased their alloy surcharges for August as compared to last month, with the exception of Acciai Speciali Terni whose prices have mostly trended downwards. Especially, alloy surcharges for 304 stainless steel sheet of 2.0 mm thickness have increased by €1-285/mt ($1-381/mt). Nickel prices had started to trend downwards last week and since they have continued their downtrend. As in July, it is observed that decline in nickel prices has not been reflected to the alloy surcharges of mills in question. On August 1, the cash seller and settlement nickel price at London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $18,280/mt, while nickel prices have recorded a decline of $762/mt since early this month.
The mills' alloy surcharges for August 2014 are as follows:
Producer/ Grade | Monthly change (€/mt) | Aperam | Monthly change (€/mt) | Acciai Speciali Terni | Monthly change (€/mt) | |
430 | €451 ($604) | +€4 ($5) | €488 ($654) | +€63 ($84) | €453 ($607) | -€3 ($4) |
304 | €1.395 ($1.869) | +€1 ($1) | €1.633 ($2.188) | +€285 ($382) | €1.386 ($1.857) | +€11 ($15) |
316 | €2.132 ($2.857) | -€53 ($71) | €2.459 ($3.295) | +€348 ($466) | €2.126 ($2.849) | -€37 ($50) |
€1 = $1.34