Transaction prices for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet in Northern Europe have moved upward in June, driven by reduced import availability and strong domestic mill pricing power, trade sources told Fastmarkets during the week to Friday June 5.
Fastmarkets’ monthly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was €2,800-2,850 ($3,229-3,287) per tonne on Friday, up from €2,700-2,775 per tonne on May 1.
The price increase was in line with the sharp rise in June alloy surcharges announced by the major European mills.
Stainless steel alloy surcharges in Europe reflected fluctuations in key raw material costs, primarily driven by nickel price movements. Fastmarkets’ monthly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 304 alloy surcharge, domestic Europe, was €2,280-2,365 per tonne on June 5, up from €2,156-2,247 per tonne on May 1.
Market participants said that while some smaller mills were still taking July orders, all large producers have effectively closed their order books, pushing lead times firmly into late summer.
“Delivery times for major European mills are expected at the end August and September,” a European producer told Fastmarkets, adding that these extended lead times were expected to keep prices stable in the near term.
A distributor said that “flat demand could challenge further price increases after July.”
“We would not be surprised if we see a roll-over of prices from July to August, also due to the coming summer vacation season,” the source said. “Margins in the distributor business are under severe pressure and do not follow the price increases from the mills, so we are walking a thin line when it comes to gaining profit.”
The corresponding price for grade 316 rose in tandem with grade 304 over the month, keeping the industry-standard price differential between the two grades stable at €1,400-1,500 per tonne. Market participants confirmed that this premium was unchanged from the previous month, reflecting steady molybdenum costs, while the flat product price increases across both grades continued to be driven by the broader upward momentum in surcharges.
Fastmarkets’ monthly price assessment for stainless steel cold-rolled sheet, 2mm, grade 316, transaction domestic, delivered North Europe, was €4,200-4,350 per tonne on June 5, rising from €4,100-4,275 per tonne on May 1.
Domestic mill strength has been driven by the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and tightening safeguard regimes, which caused cold-rolled stainless import penetration into the EU to tumble to around 12-15% early in 2026, from roughly 28% previously.
In early May, a market source told Fastmarkets that some large producers could seek €3,000 per tonne for August and September.
“Steel mills expect further increases because the safeguard measures are expected to slow imports of coils and sheet from Asia,” a second distributor told Fastmarkets. “But the big issue today is final demand, which has decreased by 20% compared with the first quarter of 2026.”
