European stainless steel market enters price decrease phase

The European stainless steel flat products market is slowly waking up after the summer holiday, bracing for a price decrease amid persistently low demand.

After about three weeks of summer pause, the activity in the market in the last week of August still has been dull, especially in the south of Europe, where many offices will reopen only in early September. In the meantime, all four stainless flat product makers are back in the market, preparing for another challenging quarter. Even though Acerinox still needs time to catch up with orders missed during the months of the strike, its return added to the changed market dynamic.

The prices are starting to take a U-turn after months of an upward trend amid increased supply but nearly the same demand at a low level. The negative trend in raw materials also adds pressure. Should the stainless steel scrap rebound from the recent decline and energy prices grow as expected before winter, mills’ profitability could face another blow in Q3. That could further feed the recently developed trend of rising imports of nickel pig iron from Asia to lower production costs. SMR reported that some 60 kt of NPI (material weight) was shipped in June from Indonesia, with Europe as the destination. Continue Reading? Please click box below!