NEW EU STAINLESS STEEL ALLOY SURCHARGES NOT HELPFUL TO BUYERS

摘要

Three of the four major EU stainless steel producers have announced significant changes to the method of calculating alloy surcharges. ArcelorMittal, Outokumpu and TKS have each devised similar mechanisms. In all cases the reference period for determining the cost of the alloys has been moved from between two and three months to just five weeks before the month of delivery of the steel. The other large producer, Acerinox, stated that it will not modify the current system. This will almost certainly benefit the company's order position in the short term because the proposed method is detrimental to customers. It gives buyers no time to estimate their input costs to enable firm quotations to be made. In most engineering sectors, suppliers are required to give fixed prices for deliveries up to six months ahead.