The stainless scrap market in the United States is sluggish, with prices registering little growth and in some cases falling back.
"Despite [London Metal Exchange] nickel hovering over the $8.00-per-lb mark, austenitic stainless scrap prices continue to struggle," one scrap dealer source said.
"There must be ample supply to meet the consuming [stainless] mills' needs for nickel discounts to remain significant and for processors to be pricing conservatively," the same dealer said.
With the LME cash nickel price reversing course again and going up, the reaction to dealers and processors is cautious.
"We are being slightly more cautious to start the week," one processor source said.
Fastmarkets assessed the stainless steel scrap...