Stainless producers step up discounts for larger-volume orders

Domestic flat-rolled stainless steel producers, who largely had been sticking to their guns on base price increases announced a few months ago, are increasingly turning to discounting, particularly for larger-volume orders.

“Base prices have been difficult because of increased low-priced imports and the current uncertain economic outlook,” a spokesman for Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI), Pittsburgh, said. That uncertainty has affected stainless steel restocking, not just for service centers but for everyone in the supply chain.

U.S. flat-rolled stainless mills announced a base price increase through a 2-percent reduction in the functional discount.....