​​​​​​​Falling nickel benchmarks, a fragmented overseas supply base and a Malaysian enforcement crackdown lift India's stainless scrap imports 11.4% while pushing the average import price down 6.6% in the 12 months to February 2026

Outokumpu's chief financial officer Marc-Simon Schaar said on July 30 that while EU trade measures are lifting demand for European steel production, higher costs for scrap, freight and fuel are consuming the improvement. The Finnish stainless producer's European business posted adjusted core profit of €17 million in the second quarter, recovering from a €13 million loss in Q1 but barely above the €16 million earned a year earlier. Schaar said stronger demand for local output has also sharply raised demand for scrap, the main raw material for European mills, while subdued end-user demand has cut scrap generation and pushed raw material prices above last year's levels. State aid worth roughly €35-40 million a year to offset EU emissions trading costs has also ended.

Jindal Stainless, India's largest stainless producer, said its Jajpur plant in Odisha won three awards at the 2026 Total Quality Management Convention held by the Quality Circle Forum of India's Pune chapter. Two gold awards went to projects optimising manganese recovery in 200-series melting at the AOD shop and reducing RIS defects in 300-series at the hot strip mill, with a silver award for reducing trapezoidity in grades 304 and EN 1.4307. The convention drew 132 teams from close to 30 companies. Jindal held annual melting capacity of 4.2 million tonnes as of March 2026 across 16 facilities globally, including Spain and Indonesia, on FY26 turnover of ₹429.55 billion, about $4.86 billion.

Luxembourg-based stainless producer Aperam told its Q2 2026 earnings call that its European business was already earning about €75 a tonne before the EU's new trade defence measures took effect, and that it welcomes the rules as strengthening the European steel community rather than as a disruption — a framing that differs from peers attributing recovery chiefly to import curbs, with Aperam stressing its diversified portfolio instead. Adjusted EBITDA was €130 million in Q2. The company guides Q3 adjusted EBITDA and shipments lower on seasonality and the absence of valuation effects, with net financial debt flat in Q3 and falling by year-end. Full-year capex guidance is about €200 million, back-end loaded, with the base dividend held at €2.00 a share.

Luxembourg-based stainless producer Aperam reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA of €130 million on July 30, up about 44% from €90 million in Q1 and its strongest quarter in four years, beating company-compiled consensus of €121 million. Net income rose sharply to €116 million. Management said every segment contributed, with Brazil returning to full seasonal strength and the Alloys and Specialties unit reinforced by the Magnetec Group acquisition, while ramp-up in innovation products such as electrical and electronics steels and OLED materials offsets Aperam's limited oil and gas exposure relative to peers. Capex was €24 million and dividends paid €36 million in the quarter. Shares fell about 4% after the release.

July 31, 2026 - This week, ferrochrome market trading was stagnant and prices fell; the chrome ore market was sluggish, with limited inquiries......

[SMM Analysis] Off-season Stainless Steel Prices and Costs Fluctuate Limitedly, Steel Mill Profits Basically Stable This week, stainless steel finished product prices remained stable, while production costs edged up slightly but with limited gains, resulting in basically stable overall smelting profits at steel mills. Based on 304 cold-rolling calculations, this week’s profit margins stood at 2.01% when using current raw materials and 2.15% when using inventory raw materials, indicating that stainless steel mills still retained certain smelting profits. On the nickel raw material side, high-grade NPI prices rose and strengthened this week. Shipment disruptions of Indonesian high-grade NPI, combined with month-end restocking purchases by some stainless steel mills and relatively optimistic market expectations for forward NPI prices, drove the price increase. Although mainstream stainless steel mills currently hold sufficient nickel pig iron raw material inventories and spot purchases remained weak, forward order transactions recovered significantly, pushing prices higher. As of this Friday, the delivered duty-paid price of Indonesia-origin high-grade NPI with 10-12% nickel content in China rose by 4 yuan/nickel unit to 1,136.5 yuan/nickel unit. Stainless steel scrap prices remained stable this week, with limited impact from futures consolidation and a slight recovery in NPI. Compared to nickel pig iron, the economic advantage of stainless steel scrap became more apparent, providing solid bottom support for prices; expectations of steel mill production resumptions in August also lent positive support. However, narrow profit margins at steel mills and weak end-use demand made cost pass-through difficult, significantly capping the upside room for prices. Overall, in the short term, stainless steel scrap will maintain a consolidating pattern supported by cost advantages and production resumption expectations, with limited overall upside room. As of this Friday, mainstream 304 off-cuts in the Shanghai area rose by 200 yuan/mt to 10,450 yuan/mt. Chromium-based raw materials…

[SMM Stainless Steel Scrap Market Weekly Review] Cost Advantages Underpin Stainless Steel Scrap Market, End-Use Demand Weakness Restrains Short-Term Upside Room This week, 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts prices in east China were flat, with a quotation range of 10,400-10,500 yuan/mt; in the Foshan area, 304 stainless steel scrap off-cuts prices remained stable in tandem, within a price range of 10,300-10,600 yuan/mt. From a raw material cost analysis perspective, the current cost of producing stainless steel entirely with stainless steel scrap is about 14,607.48 yuan/mt, while that with high-grade NPI is as high as 14,995.22 yuan/mt, with the two maintaining a stable cost price spread. This week, stainless steel scrap prices remained generally stable. During the week, SS futures showed a consolidation pattern of first declining and then rising, and the fluctuations in futures did not provide clear guidance for the spot market. Stainless steel product spot prices consolidated in tandem, with overall prices basically flat compared to last week. At month-end, stainless steel mills initiated a tender for high-grade NPI procurement, driving NPI prices to rebound slightly, but the extent of the increase was relatively limited, and the upward support from the raw material side was weak, keeping the overall stainless steel scrap market stable. Along with the slight recovery in high-grade NPI prices, the cost advantage of stainless steel scrap relative to it has increased, further highlighting its cost substitution competitiveness and forming solid bottom support for scrap prices. Overall, costs and expectations provided support, but end-use fundamentals continued to suppress the market's upward trend. As some stainless steel mills gradually wrap up previous production cuts and maintenance, the market expects stainless steel production to rebound in August, corresponding rigid demand for stainless steel scrap is expected to increase, combined with the current scrap...

[SMM Analysis] SS Futures Consolidation and Supply Recovery Amid Weak Off-Season Demand Lead to Slight Stainless Steel Inventory Buildup SMM July 30 news: This week, stainless steel social inventory continued to build up, edging slightly higher as the supply-demand surplus during the off-season remained evident. Total inventory in the two core markets of Wuxi and Foshan edged up from 929,900 mt on July 23, 2026, to 930,600 mt on July 30, up 0.08% WoW, maintaining a mild accumulation trend with the overall buildup relatively manageable. This week, the market was in the traditional consumption off-season, while high temperatures constrained downstream processing and construction activities, keeping terminal rigid demand persistently weak. During the week, SS futures fell first and then rose amid macro influences, consolidating in a range. The repeated fluctuations in futures deepened the wait-and-see sentiment in the spot market, with downstream users only purchasing on a rigid demand basis and no concentrated restocking taking place. Transactions remained mediocre and inventory digestion was slow. Marginal supply-side easing was the main reason for the inventory buildup, as steel mills that had previously undergone maintenance gradually resumed production, and industry operating rates steadily recovered. August production is expected to increase, with incremental supply being released. Weak off-season demand struggled to absorb the additional supply, exacerbating the supply-demand mismatch and driving a slight accumulation in social inventory. Overall, the off-season combined with high temperatures led to weak terminal rigid demand and sluggish transactions, which were the core factors behind the inventory buildup. Meanwhile, steel mill production resumptions and recovering supply further compounded the supply-demand surplus. Futures consolidation only briefly affected market sentiment, unable to trigger sustained restocking or reverse the off-season inventory buildup trend. Currently, off-season fundamentals dominated the market, with tepid demand recovery and steadily increasing supply leaving inventory under pressure…

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Consolidate on a Strong Note, Stainless Steel Month-End Spot High Prices See Sluggish Transactions According to SMM on July 31, SS futures consolidated on a strong note overall. Driven by successive pullbacks in the US dollar index, nonferrous metals futures strengthened across the board, and SS rose in tandem. At the close, the most-traded SS contract settled at 14,635 yuan/mt. On the spot market, SS futures shot up at the morning open and then gradually pulled back in consolidation. Although the morning strength in futures drove spot prices higher, high-priced transactions were not smooth. Some traders offered concessions under month-end shipment pressure, and market transactions were dominated by just-in-time procurement. The most-traded SS futures contract. At 10:15 a.m., SS2609 was quoted at 14,710 yuan/mt, up 110 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums for 304/2B in Wuxi were in the range of 310-710 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the average price of cold-rolled 201/2B coil in Wuxi rose 100 yuan/mt; for cold-rolled edge 304/2B coil, the average price in Wuxi rose 50 yuan/mt and in Foshan rose 25 yuan/mt; cold-rolled 316L/2B coil in Wuxi was flat; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil, Wuxi quote flat; cold-rolled 430/2B coil in both Wuxi and Foshan was flat. This week, macro sentiment turned bearish and dominated metal price trends. Stainless steel futures were under pressure and consolidated on a subdued note. This week, the US Fed kept interest rates unchanged as expected at its meeting, but its overall tone was hawkish. Commodity valuations came under broad pressure, and the nonferrous metals sector weakened across the board. Dragged by the spillover of macro headwinds, SS futures...