Stainless Scrap Imports Rise Significantly to India as Ferro Chrome Prices Rise

Stainless Steel (SS) scrap imports to India rise sharply in September 2016 owing to consistently increasing ferro chrome prices (main ingredient used in stainless steel).

According to data maintained by SteelMint, it was observed that SS scrap imports increased by over 45% in September to 99,200 MT against 67,485 MT in August 2016.

Total SS scrap imports during first six months of FY17 (Arp-Sep'16) are recorded at 423,600 MT, where as imports in FY16 were recorded at around 750,000 MT.

"SS scrap imports to India will increase owing to rising ferro chrome prices. Rising ferro chrome prices is a result of aggressive buying from China. Ferro Chrome prices have increased by around INR 15,000/MT (USD 225) in last few months." said a SS scrap importer based in Mumbai.

Out of 423,600 MT imports that took place during Apr-Sep'16, 42,000 MT (10%) was from South Korea, 40,900 MT (9.6%) was from US, 36,100 MT (8.5%) was from Thailand and 29,757 MT (7%) was from UAE.