The weekly Davis Index for stainless steel 304 (18-8) solids Tuesday rose by $25/mt to $1,197/mt cfr India port from the prior week. Imported stainless steel scrap prices in India rose in line with an uptick in the official three-month LME nickel contract. LME nickel contract increased by 4pc or $586/mt and settled at $13,773/mt on Monday from the prior week. Demand has slightly improved for major grades of stainless steel, while some grades struggledwith low demand.
The Davis Index for stainless steel 316 solids rose by $31/mt to $1,797/mt cfr India port on Tuesday from the prior week. End-user demand from various sectors including pharmaceuticals, textiles are supporting prices, besides the uptick in LME nickel.
In India, the demand for Zurik has fallen severely with only a handful of trades concluding during the week. Demand from end-users is lagging which resulted in manufacturers of SS utensils, pipes, rods cut production and has in turn impacted scrap demand, said traders. However, scrap prices jumped on the back of LME nickel, while LME copper contract remained almost flat at $6,420/mt on Monday from the week prior. The Davis Index for Zurik rose by $12/mt to $905/mt cfr India port. Zurik prices also found some support from the rise in global ferrous scrap prices over the week.
The Davis Index for stainless steel 430 solids rose by $8/mt to $408/mt cfr India port. Importers have had to slash orders as demand for SS 430 is the lowest among other grades but is expected to pick up by the beginning of August. Casting companies that mostly consume SS 430 have slowly started increasing production on an expected revival of demand from the infrastructure sector. However, market participants believe demand from infra projects will take more than a month to return.
In Taiwan, the weekly index for 304 (18-8) solids settled at $1,140/mt cfr Taiwan port, up by $55/mt from the week prior. While the Davis Index for SS 316 solids settled at $1,710/mt cfr Taiwan port, up by $70/mt with LME nickel hovering on the higher side. Similarly, for 316 solids, prices rose further as LME molybdenum rose around $286/mt to $15,714/mt on Monday from the week prior.