Service centers that process and distribute stainless steel to end-users are currently facing numerous constraints including eroded margins and increased competition, industry participants said at a Shanghai conference on Wednesday June 27.
Shrinking margins - a result of production consolidation and globalization - have been a constraint on expansion for stainless steel distributors, according to Glenn Sachko, managing director of Canada-based distributor and trader Global Stainless Steel during the Asian Stainless Steel Forum 2018.Transactions involving larger volumes are also eroding margins with lower prices per tonne, Sachko added.Profitability for stainless steel sales has reduced significantly since 2015 for both processors and producers, according to Tsutomu Fukui, director of the group...