Stainless steel scrap prices recover on rising mill demand

Author: Paul Ploumis
01 Apr 2015 Last updated at 08:32:50 GMT

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): The improved demand from mills has led to sharp recovery in stainless steel scrap prices during the month of March this year.

Prices of 304 grade stainless steel scrap climbed higher by almost 5% during the month. The prices averaged at $1340 to $1390 per tonne in March, as compared with $1275-$1325 per tonne during February. A rise of nearly 3% was witnessed in 316 grade stainless steel scrap month-on-month. The prices increased from $1760-$1810 per tonne in Feb ’15 to $1800-$1850 per tonne during March this year.

On the other hand, the chrome scrap prices remained flat over the previous month. The 409 grade chrome scrap prices remained in the range $290-$330 per tonne during March ’15, unchanged from February. Also, 430 grade scrap remained flat at $390-$430 per tonne during the month, holding steady when matched with the previous month. The persisting weakness in the chrome market and lower steel scrap prices still continue to check any recovery in chrome scrap prices, market participants noted.

Meantime, data indicates that steel scrap imports by the EU-28 region rose significantly during 2014. The yearly imports rose 16.6% to 2.992 million tonnes in 2014, when matched with the imports of 2.566 million tonnes during entire year 2013. A similar jump was witnessed in stainless steel scrap exports by the region. The exports totaled 2.807 million tonnes in 2014, rising 19.3% from the 2013 exports of 2.351 million tonnes.