Posted on 27/08/2015 in category Stainless
BIR World Mirror on Stainless Steel & Special Alloys - Issue August 2015
Overall in Europe, stainless steel producers have been able to further increase their competitiveness, as documented by their recently-published results for the second quarter of 2015.Nevertheless, total crude stainless production in the EU decreased over the same period, which is somehow surprising given, in particular, the anti-dumping regulations in place against certain Asian stainless producers.
Europe has witnessed an increased structural shortage of scrap, influenced by lower imports from Eastern Europe and other regions owing to greater competition, mainly from India, and to the continuously falling nickel price.
The forecast continues to deteriorate as the current decline in commodity prices in general, and in all stainless steel-related ones in particular, will further reduce price levels for stainless scrap and therefore availability. On the other hand, there remains the question of how current price levels will influence order income for the leading stainless flat producers.
All in all, the market for stainless scrap is set to remain challenging for the rest of this year for both raw material suppliers as well as consumers.
Joost van Kleef (KMR Stainless B.V.), Chairman of the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee