Stainless Steel Me

The term price for ferrochrome to Japan for July-September has been raised by 26% from the second quarter of this year, an official at Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corp said on Thursday, its first increase in a year.

The term price was lifted to 97c per pound, up 20c from the second quarter.

The price of ferrochrome, which helps deter corrosion in stainless steel, had been expected to rise partly because of higher electricity costs and a stronger currency in top producer South Africa.

“The producers wanted to reflect the cost-pushing factors such as the rand’s roughly 20% appreciation from the start of the year and electricity costs rising about 30% from the start of the year,” the official said.

The European third-quarter benchmark price for ferrochrome was settled last month at 89c, also up 20c or 29% from the second quarter.

“We emphasise stability, and since Europe agreed to a raise of 20c, we accepted a settlement at a similar increase,” the official said.

NSSC, 80%-owned by Nippon Steel Corp and 20% by Sumitomo Metal Industries, is Japan’s largest comprehensive stainless steel maker.

The official also noted that prices in the spot market have been rising over the past few months.

He declined to predict whether the term price could rise again in the October-December quarter.

NSSC typically holds term talks with Xstrata and Samancor Chrome.

This will have an effect mainly on Ferritic grades of stainless typicall 430 used for domestic appliances and catering applications.