Research

Forecasts and market analysis based on price assessments from Fastmarkets MB and Fastmarkets AMM

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February 2018 | Stainless Steels


Surcharges inch up but import competition intensifying: European Highlights


On grade 304 material for example, alloy surcharges increased by some €30/tonne on average for February deliveries and are set to increase by a further €40/tonne for March deliveries.

With nickel prices remaining elevated through the past month, our expectations of a rebound in stainless steel prices to levels last seen in December have been realized. At least that is the case when talking about the most common, nickel-containing grades of stainless steel.

On grade 304 material for example, alloy surcharges increased by some €30/tonne on average for February deliveries and are set to increase by a further €40/tonne for March deliveries. Thus, the €70/tonne drop seen in January will have been completely reversed by the time Q1 is over.

But, with base prices on some products slipping slightly in recent weeks and with concerns raised about the sustainability of currently elevated nickel prices – concerns that we shared in the previous issue of our tracker – might stainless steel prices simply slip backwards again in Q2?

Perhaps the main counterargument to that...

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