Any imposition by Europe of import duties on stainless steel products from Indonesia and India would spur the domestic market, create additional demand for alloy and boost the ferro-chrome market - but the effects on prices may only be short-lived, according to Fastmarkets' senior analyst.
It has been
expected for some time that the EU will impose import duties on Indonesian and Indian stainless steel in the near future.
As a consequence, domestic European producers of stainless steel have reported increased demand for their material in a market that is very strong.
"This is good news, and we can see already the reaction. We have already taken stainless steel orders [to keep us busy] until January 2022," one stainless-steel producer said. "The [European] anti-dumping legislation means that we expect to be operating at full capacity for the rest of this year. [Import duties would] support prices into 2022, at least."
Additional strength in Europe's stainless-steel sector would drive demand for feedstock materials, such as high-carbon ferro-chrome.
"Combined imports from India and Indonesia had grown to account for 20-25% of the EU's entire imports of cold-rolled flat stainless steel recently, up from about 10-15% a...