According to a report on the stainless steel market published by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), despite a slight increase in order intakes during the early weeks of the year, leading European stainless steel producers are still not reaping sufficient margins on goods sold due to weak demand within the EU as well as the continuous pressure of a huge capacity overhang in Asia on producers’ profitability, making it difficult to achieve any sales price increase on finished goods. In addition, although a drop-off in industrial production during the early weeks of 2025 has further undermined the supply of stainless steel scrap, prices have not soared as demand from European mills is not high.
According to the report, despite recent stimulus measures, China is continuing to overproduce and to flood the Asian market with stainless steel end products.
In addition, BIR noted that the imposition in the US of the new import tariffs on steel will hit those stainless producers with globalized value chains which need to import certain semi-finished products for further treatment in their US-based facilities.