Stainless steel prices in the United States fell in April while surcharges declined and market participants reported sharply lower demand.
Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for stainless steel 304 cold-rolled sheet, fob mill US fell by 2.5% to $117 per hundredweight on Monday April 13 from $120 per cwt previously, while that for 304L cold-rolled sheet fell by 2.5% to $119 per cwt from $122 per cwt in March. The price for 316L cold-rolled sheet dropped by 3.8% to $154 per cwt from $160 per cwt in the same comparison. The price decline was attributed to lower surcharges, market participants said, adding that the drop in the latter was almost entirely due to decreased primary nickel prices since base prices were mostly unchanged. April surcharges for the nickel-heavy benchmark 304 and 316 grades at three domestic mills - North American Stainless Inc, Outokumpu USA and Allegheny Technologies Inc (ATI) - fell by 2.75-2.76 cents per lb and 6.62-6.67 cents per lb respectively. AK Steel did not publish a surcharge list for April. The nickel London Metal Exchange official three-month contract closed at $11,523 per tonne ($5.23 per lb) on April 9,...