Stainless Steel Prices: Nickel & Copper Higher; India Extends Countervailing Duties on Imports from China & Vietnam

12 Sept 20243 Min ReadDaily Market Report

Nickel and copper prices are on the rise, with stainless steel seeing stable but slightly increased demand. Meanwhile, India has extended countervailing duties on steel imports from China and Vietnam. In another development, high energy costs prompted Italian manufacturer Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) to shut down one of its furnaces.

Stainless Steel Price

Nickel opened today up by 0.59% at $16,225/ton, while Copper opened today up by 1.19% at $9,199/ton.
INR opened today against USD at 83.98/-.
Current retail price for 304 CR wider 2B is now running approximately at Rs.198-201/kg basic price range, ex-Delhi, while for narrow, it is approximately Rs.3-5/kg cheaper.
SS 316L imported material is now being retailed in the price range of Rs.317-321/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. 143-148/kg, ex-Delhi, plus GST. Domestic 201 (cheapest grade) is now being retailed in the price range of Rs.140-143/- base price (plus thickness difference extra), plus GST.

Stainless Steel Demand and Supply

Demand is slightly better in 304 & 316L (CR & HR), in generic sizes, as compared to previous 2 months.
Not much demand is there in ferritic grades, except some railway fabrication usage in 409M/X2CrNi12/IRSM 44-97 grades.
Good demand is being observed in No.4/Matte PVCfinish in 201 grades, due to short supply from domestic players, and non-renewal of BIS for imported material.
Decent demand is also being observed in 304 narrow sizes, for applications like pipes and tubes or rerolling usages, due to short supply in imported material.

Stainless Steel News

According to the final ruling of the first countervailing duty (CVD) sunset review, India decided to continue the CVD imposition on welded stainless steel pipes and tubes originating in or exported from China and Vietnam, and the validity is five years. The revocation of the existing CVD measure is believed to lead to the continuation or recurrence of subsidization and injury to the domestic industry. The CVD rate for China is 29.88% of the CIF value, and Vietnam received a duty rate ranging from 0% to 11.96%.
Acciai Speciali Terni (AST), a stainless steel manufacturer in Italy, planned to close one of the two electric arc furnaces at its Terni steel mill at the end of September for a period of around one week. AST made this decision mainly due to high electricity costs, which made the company unable to compete at lower prices with growing imports from Asia.
US President Joe Biden is preparing to block Nippon Steel's US$14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, a move that could impact jobs and foreign investment. The proposed deal, announced last year, has faced significant opposition from politicians and the US Steelworkers union due to concerns about foreign control and job losses. Following the news, U.S. Steel's stock dropped nearly 20%.
The Ministry of Commerce of China appealed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the Canadian government's imposition of import tariffs of 100% on electric vehicles (EVs) and 25% on steel and aluminum, effective October 1 and October 15, respectively. The Canadian trade protection measures ensure that laborers and businesses have a fair competitive environment in the electric vehicle, steel, and aluminum industries.
On Monday, 9 September 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China announced that it is currently working on integrating cement, steel and aluminium into the National Carbon Emission Trading Market (NCETM). The initiation phase is to run from 2024 to 2026 in order to familiarise the companies concerned with the new rules, among other things. According to information from China, this new regulation will connect around 1,500 companies that emit more than 26,000 tCO2eq per year to the NCETM.
Nickel prices on the Asian commodity exchange SHFE have risen again today. The two currently most important contracts, NI2409 and NI2410, rose by up to 1.36%. On the European LME, nickel had already risen by more than 1% shortly after the start of trading and rose by more than 1.6% in the meantime to over USD 16,000/MT.

Expert Opinion

Both 304 & 316L are expected to have a medium to good run this week, owing to the slight raw material price increase.
The 400 series is continuing with its dull run, due to the lack of demand in ferritic grades.
The 200 series is still performing strongly, in special finishes like N4P (Matte PVC) & N8P (Mirror PVC) owing to the lack of imported products in the market.