NEW YORK — A recently announced price hike on commodity flat-rolled stainless products has already been slashed in half, some market sources have said.

"They announced four points, and two points have held," one East Coast distributor said of the increase, which was launched by domestic stainless mills in early January.

One West Coast distributor, who had recently been informed by a mill representative of the change in the functional discount, agreed.

"Only two points are in effect, not four points," he said.

The reduction wasn’t unexpected.

"I’m not surprised to hear that. A normal move (upward) is two discount points," a southern distributor said.

A second southern distributor confirmed the decrease. "I have not heard anything official, but we have only been paying half," he said.

Until recently, some sources were saying that the full increase had held (amm.com, Jan. 17).