Rising nickel prices push up austenitic production costs

摘要

Cold-rolled 304 stainless steel prices continue to rise in June as the cost of austenitic stainless grade production increases along with the nickel price. This has led some Chinese mills such as Baosteel and JISCO to increase the share of ferritic (400-series). CRU is of the view that substitution between the two grades started to accelerate as the price differential between 304 2B and 430 2B grades grew from RMB5,000/tonne to in excess of RMB10,000/tonne.