Market participants reported limited activity, with many adopting a wait-and-see approach.
“The biggest [factor] is the missing demand from the market,” a distributor in Germany said. “It’s really too early to conclude anything significant, with [most of the market] still on holiday. So we wait and see.”
Prices of stainless steel flat products fell over the month due to the subdued demand and bearish market sentiment.
Fastmarkets’ monthly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was €2,300-2,380 ($2,664-2,757) per tonne on August 1, down by €50-60 per tonne from €2,350-2,420 per tonne on July 4.
Fastmarkets’ newly launched monthly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 316, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was €3,600-3,680 per tonne on August 1.
Many European service centers were trimming inventories, shifting to hand-to-mouth selling, sources told Fastmarkets.
“The strategy in our group is to decrease stock level to a point where service to the customer can still be maintained,” a distributor in Belgium said.
Some distributors said prices may be nearing a floor, citing higher import prices from Asia and reduced supply in Europe due to mill maintenance in August.
“The price has reached its limit for the month,” a distributor in Italy said. “With a forecast of reduced supply and an increase in the price of incoming Asian material, we expect the decline in stainless steel prices to slow.”
Asian stainless steel prices rose in late July, driven by a broader rally in ferrous futures and higher raw material costs, particularly for coking coal and molybdenum.
While sentiment remained largely bearish, a few sources said demand could recover if EU-level trade measures, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), begin to support domestic production.
“Between September [and] October we can see stability and possibly [an] increase [in prices] for November [and] December. I think CBAM will start in January and will have [an] impact [on the stainless steel market],” a producer said.
The distributor in Italy said, “if the pressure from European producers’ associations and stainless steel service centers on the European Community aimed at protecting European production finally yields a positive result, then we will finally see demand recover.”
