In early February, stainless steel prices in the EU market continued to rise amid supply shortages. However, distributors said the current market is too strong and the actual demand for restocking in the automotive and home appliance industries is really high. Demand in these major application industries began to grow in the fourth quarter of last year.
Currently, shipments for some of the steel mills are in April or even May. Due to the limited supply in the EU, distributors buy as much from Asian factories as possible, and the deal price is still lower than the supply from domestic factories. The price for cold-rolled stainless steel 304 over the past week in the EU has grown by 120-150 euros per tonne.
