In a recent news, Spanish steel producer Acerinox has made it clear that buyers must not be carried away from making hunches about the surcharge element of the stainless steel price in case they have agreed on the contracts signed.

It has further been said that the price of stainless steel comprises of base price and an alloy surcharge, in which the base price is decided between the mill and the customer on a monthly, quarterly or longer basis, and monthly alloy surcharge is totally tracked with the help of a formula, which is based on the average price of nickel and other alloys present in stainless steel, for the month or two months before the booking.

"So I think the first thing we must do is to change this attitude: when you place an order, you place an order with volumes and price and you have to respect it", said the company's Chief Executive Bernardo Velazquez, who urges buyers to remain firm to whatever decision they take in respect to buying material.

Though a new formula is being proposed by competitor Aperam, he is of the view that old system is doing fair enough and it depends on customers if they want any change or not.