Stainless steel transaction prices in Europe increased in the week ended Friday March 29 while mills continued to incrementally apply higher alloy surcharges to their sales prices.
This week, many mills announced alloy surcharges for a range of stainless steel products for April, at levels increased from those in March. This was the second consecutive such increase.The increases were largely a reaction to higher nickel prices, so had been widely expected in the market ahead of the announcement.Faced with strong resistance from buyers when trying to increase prices for grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) sheets, mills have been applying March's higher surcharge level...