Stainless Steel Me

According to market sources, the world’s transaction prices of nickel based stainless CR sheets are thought to have bottomed out both in Asia and the West. A case in point is Japanese export prices for Asian destinations, mainly China. They have stopped falling at a level of USD 2,000 per tonne FOB.

The following are an overview of the world’s stainless steel market conditions.

Europe/USA
Stainless steel manufacturers in Europe are trying to increase the base price of nickel based CR sheets by EUR 100 to EUR 1,050. Their counterparts in the USA are on track to take similar moves. European and US stainless steel producers favor executing price increases on the argument that they can no longer bear what they describe as unprecedented low prices.

East Asia
The current price level stands at USD 2,000 per tonne FOB in Japanese exports of nickel based stainless CR sheets to China, down by USD 100 from what turned out in February. The fall in the price level related to recent LME nickel prices that came down by USD 0.30 per pound. With prices of nickel based stainless CR sheets tied to nickel prices, it follows that they will respond accordingly to every advance in LME nickel prices. Therefore, the current level of Japanese export prices indicates that they have bottomed out. By comparison, there are signs that prices of nickel based stainless CR sheets have stopped falling at a level of USD 1,950 per tonne FOB in exports out of South Korea’s and Taiwan’s stainless steel mills.

Stainless steel stocks in various nations are virtually nil, a situation where users will take action at once to purchase what they need if LME nickel prices have turned up. So far, the users are committed to purchases for immediate requirements alone. Accordingly, cargo movements of Ni-based stainless CR sheets are on the increase at present, a trend that is expected to gather momentum from April onward.

In China, meanwhile, Taiyuan Iron & Steel Group Co changed its announcement of stainless steel prices for domestic sales from the usual monthly practice to a weekly one from March 9. At the same time, the company reduced the asking price of nickel based CR sheets by nearly CNY 800 per tonne to CNY 15,200 per tonne.

Chrome based stainless prices
It is uncertain whether prices of chromium-based stainless CR sheets will follow those of nickel based products that are thought to have bottomed out. At present, what Japan’s stainless steel producers charge for exports of chrome based CR sheets stands at a level of USD 1,800 per tonne FOB. Users show a preference again of nickel based stainless CR sheets to chrome based products in reaction to a small price spread between the two grades of stainless CR sheets. Besides, it remains to be seen whether the world’s chromium prices will recede further. The going prices differ by nearly USD 500 per tonne from one another in what South Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese stainless steel producers negotiate as exports of chrome based CR sheets. There is even a possibility that their export prices of chrome based CR sheets will come down further.