BIR World Mirror on Stainless Steel & Special Alloys – Quarterly Report July 2026: Buyers seeking supply security rather than chasing lowest price
A concise summary of the BIR World Mirror on Stainless Steel & Special Alloys – Quarterly Report July 2026. Full version with detailed market reports available in the Members Only section of the BIR website.
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the EU safeguard measures have had a significant impact towards their goal of protecting the European market from global overcapacity and unfair competition. During the early part of the second quarter, import penetration into the EU market was effectively cut in half, it is reported in the latest World Mirror publication released by the BIR Stainless Steel & Special Alloys Committee.
However, prices for standard grades of stainless steel scrap have been declining of late
against a backdrop of holiday shutdowns, planned maintenance outages, increased slab imports and weaker order intake. With Indonesia considering an increase in mining quotas, lower nickel prices have also played their part in latest market developments.
Europe’s stainless steel mills have been operating at conservative production levels and have thus maintained a cautious purchasing strategy. Limited scrap availability has provided some support to the market despite modest consumption.
According to feedback from Italy, demand for stainless scrap has remained selective, with steel producers purchasing primarily in line with immediate production requirements. The availability of high-quality scrap remains a strategic factor, while increasing attention is being paid to traceability, sustainability and carbon footprint.
In Asia, meanwhile, high electricity costs in the summer typically weaken demand for stainless scrap in Taiwan while consumption in South Korea has been stable following completion of scheduled furnace maintenance. Scrap exports have dropped to low levels in Japan as domestic mills increasingly take up local supplies.
In India too, most mills are said to be focusing strongly on procurement of domestic supplies of recycled stainless steel in response to volatility on the LME and in the rupee/US dollar exchange rate, as well as to elevated container freight costs. In various of India’s regional hubs, it is noted, there are established recyclers and processors who are catering to mills’ requirements on a spot, door-delivery basis with payment on credit terms. However, it should be stressed that domestic supply alone cannot satisfy mill requirements and so buyers still need to evaluate imported sources of recycled stainless steel.
In the USA, industrial accounts are said to be generating recycled material at a healthy rate, led by aerospace, construction, energy and data centre-related fabrication. However, margins are constrained by a steady market in which the surplus material is having to search for a home. At the same time, US tariffs are continuing to influence the directions in which material flows.
As for the Middle East’s stainless steel and special alloys market, this has remained resilient despite heightened geopolitical tensions across the region, continuing uncertainty surrounding shipping routes, higher freight costs, elevated war-risk insurance premiums and longer shipping lead times. Against this backdrop, purchasing decisions have focused generally on securing material availability rather than on achieving the lowest purchasing price. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council, demand for stainless steel has remained stable, driven by infrastructure development, industrial maintenance, energy projects and downstream manufacturing.
For superalloy recyclers, demand for clean, well-segregated revert and production scrap remains relatively strong, particularly where the alloy grade and source are known. Material that can be returned to high-value applications continues to attract interest, regardless of short-term movements in the nickel price.
Although supply chains have become more stable, many manufacturers have not returned to earlier purchasing habits, preferring to diversify their sources of supply and to reduce their exposure to potential disruption. In the secondary alloy market too, buyers are shifting away from chasing the lowest price and are now placing greater emphasis on consistent supply and on suppliers they know can deliver the right material when it is needed.
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With contributions from its members, BIR publishes periodical commodity reports under the label "BIR World Mirror". These detailed reports exist for Non-Ferrous Metals, Ferrous, Stainless Steel / Alloys, Paper, Plastics and Latin America and provide BIR members with up-to-date information on the respective commodity or market segment.
The report on Non-Ferrous Metals appears once every two months, whereas Ferrous, Stainless Steel, Paper and Plastics are published quarterly. Latin America is covered twice per year.