Superalloy prices were rangebound across most grades on Thursday despite an over $1,000/mt rise in LME Nickel prices over the week.
The weekly Davis Index for Hastelloy C rose by 1¢/lb to $5.13/lb for single truckload delivered processor yard and held unchanged for Hastelloy X at $3.77/lb delivered.
Inconel 600 was flat at $4.87/lb delivered and inched up for Inconel 601 by a penny to $4.08/lb delivered processor yard. Inconel 617 rose by 2¢/lb at $3.79/lb delivered processor yard and settled unchanged for Inconel 625 Vac at $4.29/lb delivered.
The index for Inconel 718 Vac increased by 4¢/lb to $3.52/lb delivered processor yard.
The official LME Nickel cash contract closed Thursday at $17,433/mt, up by $1,424/mt from $16,009/mt on Apr 22.
LME prices have been on the upswing since the beginning of this week and rose further on Wednesday. Still, prices are expected to drop after the International Nickel Study Group (INSG) indicated that despite an increase in global nickel usage, a further 9pc rise in production is likely to keep the market in surplus this year.
A drop in nickel prices will likely put downward pressure on superalloy prices as well and given that prices have trended sideways throughout April on softening demand, processors are trying to gauge how demand will impact superalloy prices in this quarter.