Demand Recovery in Stainless Steel; Nickel Prices Slightly Up, Copper Down

Key Takeaways:

• Price Overview: Stainless steel prices are stable, with 200 series showing strong demand due to limited imports.
• Demand Trends: 300 series demand remains slow due to cash constraints, while 200 and 400 series see noticeable growth.
• Global Impact: Indonesia’s nickel mining quota cuts and increased EU steel imports could influence global pricing trends.
• Industry Push: Ahead of India’s Union Budget, the stainless steel industry demands duty changes and tariff value adjustments.
• Expert Outlook: Prices in all series are expected to rise due to high USD rates and domestic supply limitations.

Stainless Steel Price:

• Nickel opened today up by 0.03% at $15,570/mt, while Copper opened today down by 0.51% at $9,049/mt.
• INR opened today against USD at 86.52/-.
• Current retail price for 304 CR wider 2B is now running approximately at Rs.197-199/kg basic price range, ex-Delhi, while for narrow, it is approximately Rs.3-5/kg cheaper, plus GST.
• SS 316L HR imported material is now being retailed in the price range of Rs.318-322/kg for HR wider. Indian material is expensive by Rs.5-10/kg. For CR wider, the rates are Rs.10/kg higher than HR.
• SS 201 imported CR 2B (extra low thicknesses like 0.26mm) is being retailed at Rs. 165-167/kg, ex-Delhi, plus GST. Domestic 201 (cheapest grade) is now being retailed in the price range of Rs.143-145/- base price (plus thickness difference extra), plus GST.

Stainless Steel Demand and Supply:

• Demand is slightly getting better in 300 series, but not that much, due to cash crunch.
• In 400 series also, demand is seen to be increasing.
• 200 series demand has further increased and is upbeat, due to shortage of imported material.
• No.4 PVC material demand is still on the rise as expected, both in 200 and 300 series, as observed in the past few months.

Stainless Steel News:

• According to Eurostat, EU steel imports from third countries increased by 5.4% year-on-year from January to November 2024. Long product imports rose by 3%, while flat products saw a 6.3% increase. EUROFER predicts EU apparent steel consumption will grow by 3.8% in 2025.
• Ahead of India’s Union Budget 2025-26, the stainless steel industry seeks reduced import duties on unavailable raw materials, increased customs duties on stainless steel products, and fixed tariff values for stainless steel.
• Indonesia, after driving down nickel prices with China, plans to boost nickel and stainless-steel prices by cutting annual mining quotas to 150-200m metric tons from 270m. The move could benefit Chinese-backed Indonesian mines and the government, but not revive mothballed mines in Australia, Canada, or New Caledonia.

Expert Opinion:

• SS 300 series prices are expected to rise in the current scenario, since USD is high.
• SS 400 series prices are also expected to remain on the steeper side, because of the BIS issue.
• SS 200 series is also expected to perform very well domestically, as imports are disrupted.