US stainless steel processor buying prices increased across all grades following a rise in LME nickel prices on Wednesday.
The weekly Davis Index for 201 solids rose by 0.8¢/lb to 50¢/lb delivered processor yard and was up for 301 solids by 3.4¢/lb to 64¢/lb for single truckloads.
Scrap 309 solids grew by 7.5¢/lb to 99.2¢/lb delivered and increased for 310 solids by 7.5¢/lb to $1.468/lb delivered. The weekly Davis Index for 330 solids rose by 8.8¢/lb to $2.327/lb delivered processor yard.
The index for 409/410 solids moved up by $52.4/gt to $527.7/gt delivered processor yard and increased by $14.4/gt to $628.7/gt delivered for 430 solids.
Demand for stainless steel scrap from mills dropped at the beginning of the second quarter as expected by processors. However, the need for stainless scrap seems to have improved over the past two weeks, though not it has still not reached the levels seen in the first quarter.
Still, processors expect demand to soften slightly by the middle of this quarter and plan to make further purchases accordingly.
The daily Davis Index for scrap 304 solids increased by 1.5¢/lb to 74.8¢/lb delivered processor yard and moved up for 316 solids by 1.8¢/lb to 96.5¢/lb for single truckloads.
Scrap 304 turnings increased by 3.2¢/lb to 69.5¢/lb delivered and rose for 316 turnings by 0.5¢/lb to 87.5¢/lb for single truckloads.
LME nickel prices increased by $310/mt from Tuesday with the official three-month LME Nickel contract settling at $17,262/mt on Wednesday. The official cash contract closed Wednesday at $17,223/mt up by $309/mt from Tuesday.