Stainless surcharges to rise again, but pace petering out

Dec 06, 2007 | 04:04 PM | Maria Guzzo

Stainless steel flat-rolled surcharges are on the rise for January, their third consecutive gain after tallying three monthly declines. However, the signs are pointing lower as the pace of the rise has slowed considerably amid volatility in input costs, particularly nickel.

The surcharge for Type 304 product will average $1.477 a pound for January, up 1.67 cents from December's $1.4603-a-pound average. For Type 316 product, the monthly average surcharge stands at $2.4484 a pound, up 3.39 cents from $2.4145 the previous month; and Type 321 will carry a January surcharge of $1.6064 a pound, up 1.29 cents from an average of $1.5935 a pound in December.

But that pace is down sharply from an average surcharge increase of 9.613 cents a pound for Type 304 product in December and a 9.79-cent gain in November. Likewise, the Type 316 product surcharge had risen an average of 11.63 cents a pound in December and was up 11.397 cents in November, while the increases for Type 321 were 10.456 cents and 9.49 cents a pound, respectively.....