Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

(AMM) AK, ATI execs' outlook on stainless steel not quite eye to eye

July 29, 2010 - 19:19 GMT Location: PITTSBURGH

KEYWORDS: Allegheny Technologies , ATI , AK Steel , flat-rolled , stainless

Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) and AK Steel Corp. were in unison in reporting improved flat-rolled stainless steel sales in the second quarter, but management at the two companies differ somewhat on the pace of further improvements.

ATI expects to see reduced stainless flat-rolled sales in the third quarter, with customers reluctant to buy amid raw material price volatility, L. Patrick Hassey, ATI's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said during the Pittsburgh-based company's second-quarter conference call. Typically, service centers cut their purchases as prices fall for fear of a devaluation of their inventory if prices fall further.

Stainless flat-rolled base prices will soften in the third quarter, along with surcharges, according to Richard Harshman, ATI's executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer. "Our assumption is base prices will be more competitive in the third quarter than they were in the second quarter," he said.

Stainless prices reached a recent high in June after...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Please log in using your online subscriber details.
Your username will be your registered email address with Metal Bulletin.

If you aren't a subscriber yet, feel free to take a seven day free trial, or subscribe using the instructions below.

A standard subscription include one year's worth of news and prices. You can also upgrade to the full archive and benefit from more than 13 years of intelligence. Start your subscription today.

Free trial

Taking a free trial will give you open access to Metal Bulletin online news, prices, archived content and email alert service for the next seven days. Start your free trial today.

Free trial

Already have an account?

Stainless & Special Steels

Feb 3, 2012 23:58 US molybdenum prices continue to rally
Feb 3, 2012 23:54 US silicomanganese prices up on supply tightness
Feb 3, 2012 23:49 Integrity Stainless to open new Ohio center
Feb 3, 2012 23:45 US ferrosilicon up as stainless mills ‘running hot’
Feb 3, 2012 20:57 NAS’ partial stainless price hike may foil peer mills

Comment & analysis

COMMENT: Glenstrata still has to break the mould

The news that Glencore and Xstrata are in merger talks would only come as a surprise to someone living under a rock, and only then if said rock did not contain any valuable minerals. But now that talks of a tie-up of the world’s largest metals trader and its fourth largest miner have finally moved into the boardroom, hypothetical questions have become real, and the answers are far from certain.
APEX FULL YEAR 2011: Base metal forecasts: astounding accuracy

Astounding upon astounding: that is how the 2011 leaderboard for Apex, the Metal Bulletin service that tracks the performance of over twenty top base metal price forecasters, appears when you consider it coldly.
Raising fees could imperil LME date structure: a broker writes

The London Metal Exchange plans to introduce a fee for client trades from March. The proposal has aroused some opposition, and prompted one broker to write to Metal Bulletin, requesting anonymity. Here he outlines his concerns. How justified are they? Email aharrison@metalbulletin.com, or tweet @aharrison_mb