It is reported that the major stainless steel producers in the US have announced to cut the alloy surcharge further in January 2012 due to soft nickel prices

North American Stainless announced to cut the January 2012 alloy surcharge for 304 grade products to USD 0.8833 per pound, down by 2.9% from USD 0.8889 per pound in December 2011.

Besides, its January 2012 alloy surcharge for 201 grade products decreased to USD 0.5762 per pound from USD 0.5825 per pound and that for 316 grade products dropped to USD 1.2375 per pound from USD 1.2612 per pound However, the company increased the January alloy surcharge for 430 grade products by 5.2% to USD 0.2809 per pound from USD 0.2693 per pound

AK Steel's January 2012 alloy surcharge for 304 grade products decreased by 3.1% to USD 0.8639 per pound; that for 201 grade products dropped by 1.9% to USD 0.5853 per pound; that for 316 products was down by 2.3% to USD 1.238 per pound while that for 430 grade products surged by 4.5% to USD 0.2813 per pound, all compare to that in December 2011.

It is known that the January 2012 alloy surcharge was calculated according to the average nickel prices of USD 17,747.05 per tonne during November 21st 2011 and December 20th 2011, decreased by USD 18,629.29 per tonne from a month earlier.

(Sourced from www.yieh.com)