Stainless steel producer Outokumpu has raised alloy surcharges again for its austenitic flat stainless steels and most of its special stainless range for the US market for October, Kallanish notes. Surcharges for ferritic products are lowered however for the fifth time in six months. The new rates apply from 1 October through 31 October 2019, the company says.

Of the 61 grades of flat stainless products on the steelmaker’s US price list, just 12 have seen surcharges lower month-on-month for October in a range from -2.92% to -11.8%. The 50 grades that have been increased have been so changed in a wider range of 0.2% to 17% and are generally alloys with higher nickel content.

The most popular grades in the 300-series of austenitic steels have changed by varying amounts. The surcharge for the ‘workhorse’ product, ‘Core’ grade 304, has been raised by 12.9-13.9% month-on-month to $0.778-0.883/lb depending on nickel content. That for grade 316L, the engineering sector’s popular choice, has risen by 11.1% from September’s $0.9716/lb to $1.0792/lb.

The more specialist steels within the 300 series have also seen monthly surcharges rise strongly. Grade 310S, a heat resisting stainless used in high temperature applications, has had its surcharge hiked by 16.6% to $1.5532/lb for October following a 20.2% increase for September.

Surcharges in the ferritic stainless steels categorised by the 400 series have been lowered again for the fifth time out of the last six months. The most popular 409 grade has seen its surcharge slip by -2.52% to $0.1472/lb.

Of Outokumpu’s higher austenitic products, the surcharge for grade 254 SMO, widely used in extreme environments, has risen by 13.6% m-o-m to $2.3649/lb.

The company produces alloy surcharges for a range of 61 grades of stainless steel flat products and updates these for the US market on a monthly basis. It produces separate lists for long products and precision strip with the same frequency.