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Latest Stainless Steel News 19/05/2010
Wed 19 May 2010
Taiwanese stainless makers cut 300 prices
Taiwan's two main stainless steelmakers, Yieh United Steel Corp (Yusco) and Tang Eng Iron Works, have cut domestic prices of their austenitic hot rolled and cold rolled products by TWD 6,000/tonne for the rest of May after nickel prices slumped.
Yusco has not officially announced its price changes but the company has also lowered 300-series export prices by $150-200/t for the rest of the month. Tang Eng has not adjusted its export prices as the company usually only reviews its export prices at the beginning of the month.
Market participants were expecting the Taiwanese steelmakers to set lower prices after nickel prices crashed at the start of May. The producers' latest price change, closely watched with anticipation by the Asian stainless market, was expected to signal near-term price directions for austenitic prices in Asia after the nickel crash.
Nickel price dip further
The price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange fell by another $1,000/tonne in just a week, to stand at $21,025/tonne (cash buyer) at the close of trading on Monday.
Although demand remains high with rising stainless steel production, the fall is due to people worried about risk in the wider market. This week's fall follows considerable drops earlier this month: in the fortnight up to 6 May the price came down by around $6,000/t.
The main contributing factor is the general macroeconomic sentiment with most commodities taking a hit in the last week. Investor's appetite for risk is very low at the moment.There are also growing concern that ferro-alloy prices in general may fall if the spot iron ore price continues to ease back.
Global stainless steel output rise in Q1
According to the data from the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), global stainless steel output hit a new record of 7.47 million tons in the first quarter this year.
The growth was 54.6 percent compared with the same period of 2009 on economy crisis as it was the lowest in a decade.
ISSF also said that the world's stainless steel industry will keep on normal production on a reasonable level for the following quarters of 2010 and 2011. The stainless steel production is expected to increase about 11 to 12 percent for the full year.
