Strong European Stainless Mart could Lift Asian Market

European market price of nickel series stainless cold rolled steel surges to record level at 3,400 euro per tonne under higher nickel cost. Some European makers increased the base price without alloy surcharge by around 70% to 1,850 euro for August order compared with the bottom a year ago. The base price could reach 2,000 euro in the year under the very tight supply. The tight European market could impact on Asian market while Japanese market price is still as low as 375,000 yen per tonne for July order by Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel. European stainless steel demand is firm for liquid natural gas facilities in Russia and Middle East and appliances. The stainless price is lifted by extreme higher nickel price, which reached record US$ 15 per pound on Wednesday. The stainless market price is expected to increase more with firm demand and limited supply by European makers, which already operate at full capacity, along with the nickel cost. European makers have no additional capacity to export the stainless to Asian market. Japanese trading firm source said the export is apparently near zero though European makers shipped monthly 100,000 tonnes of cold rolled products for Asia before.