POSCO raises prices of some stainless steel in July

Recently, South Korea’s Pohang Steel increased its 300 series stainless steel prices by 100,000 won/ton (about US$83.17/ton) in July, and said that due to the reduced demand in the epidemic and the difficulty of cooperating with customers, its stainless steel prices It has remained unchanged since March, but due to the heavy burden of raw material costs, it is now necessary to choose to increase prices. Posco also revealed that prices will be further increased when necessary.

Since March, LME (London Metal Exchange) nickel prices have continued to strengthen, rising to 16,000 USD/ton at the end of June. In addition, due to tight supply of ferrochromium and power shortages in South Africa, the benchmark price of ferrochromium rose by 13% year-on-year in the second quarter, and is expected to rise further in the third quarter. Considering the strengthening of raw material prices, some stainless steel producers have raised the prices of some stainless steel products in July shipments. However, some stainless steel producers in the European Union, such as Finland’s Outokumpu and Aperam, have slightly reduced their stainless steel surcharges in July. Nonetheless, in the last 3 months, the price of 300 series stainless steel in Outokumpu, Finland, has increased by 60 Euros/ton (about 68 US dollars/ton), and the price of 400 series stainless steel has increased by 41 Euros/ton (about 46 US dollars / ton); North American Stainless Steel (NAS) 300 series stainless steel prices increased by 105 US dollars / ton, 400 series stainless steel prices increased by 64 US dollars / ton.