June European surcharge for stainless steel at six-year highs

Monthly premiums to flat austenitic stainless steel in Europe will rise for the fifth straight month in April, reaching six-year highs.

Finland's Outokumpu, the continent's largest producer, set its alloy adjustment factor for alloy type 304 (4301) for flat products at Eur 5227 /t in June, up 9.9% from May 2012. The June figure in January increased by 18% from 2,190 euros per month.

Pulling back from a brief spike above $ 16,000 in a month in April as the market panicked over news of US sanctions targeting a number of Russian companies and individuals, dollar-denominated nickel prices on the London Metal Exchange have climbed steadily this month, moving towards $ 15,000 per ton last week.

As a result of Friday, the price for nickel alloys on the LME in May averaged $ 14,103 /t, compared to $ 13,935 /t in April. The last estimated price averaged over $ 14,000 per month in February 2015.

Outokumpu's profit for molybdenum bearing type 316 (4401) was set at € 2.275 /t in June, up € 11.8 /t from May to its highest level since April 2012 and 23% more than in January.