Stainless Steel Prices Hold Steady; Nickel Dips Slightly as Copper Gains

Key Takeaways

• Nickel and Copper Movement: Nickel dipped 0.16% to $15,870/mt, while Copper rose 0.45% to $9,136/mt today.
• Stainless Steel Prices: Retail prices for stainless steel 304 CR wider 2B range between Rs.195-198/kg, with slight variations for other grades.
• SS 200 Series Demand Surges: Shortage of imported materials drives strong domestic demand in the 200 series stainless steel category.
• Russian Production Growth: Russia’s stainless steel production increased 12% month-on-month in November.

Stainless Steel Price:

• Nickel opened today down by 0.16% at $15,870/mt, while Copper opened today up by 0.45% at $9,136/mt. INR opened today against USD at 86.54/-.
• Current retail price for 304 CR wider 2B is now running approximately at Rs.195-198/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

• Russia's stainless steel production reached 22,600 mt in November 2024, a 12% increase from October but 28% lower than the previous year. In the first 11 months of 2024, production totalled 257,000 mt, a 14% drop year-on-year. Domestic demand was primarily driven by the engineering sector, with imports expected to hit a record high.
• Chinese nickel producer GEM Co. Ltd. completed a 30,000-mt high-nickel ternary precursor material project in Indonesia and plans to expand capacity to 50,000 mt.
• LME nickel futures rose by 3.6% last week, closing at $15,658/ton. Nickel prices have increased by $330 this year, driven by a cut in nickel ore mining quotas in Indonesia and the strengthening US dollar. However, weak demand suggests short-term fluctuations in nickel prices.
• The Biden administration has extended the deadline for Nippon Steel to abandon its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel until June 18, allowing time for a court review of the national security-based block.

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 choked.