Affected by the short supply, the European 304 cold-rolled stainless steel coils transaction price rose by about 140 euros/ton in May. It was expected that it will continue to rise in June and the situation of short supply will remain.

Most European 300 series stainless steel producers are still delivering goods from the order of November to December last year. There is only a small amount of available inventory during this period. Therefore, many buyers are looking for import sources.

However, it is lack of overseas quotation due to the strong stainless steel demand in Asia, shortage supply of empty containers, and tight shipment. Besides, the export freight cost from Asia to Europe is very high.

The current long delivery time poses another problem for buyers. The raw material costs of downstream buyers are high and some industries are forced to suspend production. The shortage of materials was expected to continue in the second half of this year and prices will be remained high.