During the past few months, the inventories of stainless steel in the US market had been at the lowest level. The price continued to rise, and 300 and 400 series products were especially in a short supply due to the unexpectedly rapid recovery of demand, which has caused a bottleneck in the supply chain.

American stainless-steel distributors said that their inventory has reached the lowest level in many years. The delivery time provided by the US factory was unusually long. Some material suppliers control the order number due to the abnormal weather and severe shortage of labor, which forced processing plants to switch to the import market.

In addition, the shortage of containers is still severe, which makes freight costs continue to go up. Purchasing from overseas will be costly too.

At present, the US prices have been the highest since July 2018. Besides, the prices of major alloys have risen sharply. In conclusion, the market expected that the 304/2B price in the second quarter of 2021 may hit a nine-year high.