Posted on 23 May 2025
Market conditions for the stainless steel industry are not expected to improve in the coming months amid seasonal lows and a sluggish price environment, with considerable challenges expected for the duration of 2025, Kallanish learns.
Joost van Kleef, chairman of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee, representing Oryx Stainless made the comments in the latest BIR Stainless Mirror.
Elsewhere, Ruggero Ricco, chief executive of Nichel Leghe, has indicated that there is currently minimal evidence suggesting a near-term reversal of the sector's prolonged downturn.
“The lack of strength in European domestic demand is pushing stainless steel mills to lower prices in a bid to steal customers from each other. This race to the bottom favours Indonesian products, which are much cheaper than integral production with European scrap.” Ricco states.
The scrap market is experiencing a significant decline in both prices and volumes, primarily due to a preference by EU producers for Indonesian nickel pig iron as a more cost-effective solution.
Europe is currently examining its production strategy, evaluating scrap use against the possibility of transitioning to nickel pig iron or direct acquisition of slabs, Ricco argues. For the past six months, scrap prices and sales volumes have been falling in Europe while the US tariffs have considerably impacted the stainless steel market, with Asian nations redirecting their shipments to Europe and other countries, Ricco points out.
The European stainless flat and long markets are facing a significant downturn, characterised by weak order intake across the entire value chain and a persistent downward trajectory in stainless steel coil and derivatives, longs and scrap. Both coil and long product mills in Europe are decreasing their prices and report high stocks (see Kallanish passim).
Multiple sources in the scrap sector, including Ricco, tell Kallanish they expect further declines in the most popular stainless scrap grades, such as 304, in June as values are beginning to fall below €1,200/tonne ($1,355/t) delivered.
Source:Kallanish
