Q4 base price increases likely to be modest at best

摘要

There is little evidence that European stainless demand has picked up greatly following the summer holidays, yet it can be confirmed that most stainless mills have announced base price hikes to benchmark 304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless, effective from October. The full extent of these rises range between ?50-65/t, with the largest increase announced by Aperam. We are still unsure about developments at Terni, but most market participants feel the Italian mill has followed suit. It is understood that mills will be applying a progressive increase over October and November rather than the full amount all in one go.