Swedish engineering steel specialist Ovako has reduced five of its six alloying element surcharges for hot rolled bar for October. The only riser, once again, is nickel, the surge in price for which has been a feature of the market over the summer. The company’s scrap surcharge for October plummets following the well-documented chute in international scrap prices, Kallanish notes.

Ovako’s nickel surcharge surges again for October by nearly 28% to SEK 1,217/tonne ($125/t) per 1% alloying element by weight from its September value of SEK 953/t per 1%. (The conversion rate used is that given by Ovako of SEK 1 = $ 0.104). The surcharge for chromium tumbles for the fifth consecutive month, by -7% to SEK 133/t per 1%.

The alloy surcharge for vanadium has fallen back again for the ninth consecutive month by -6.9% to SEK 2,166/t per 1%, the lowest level since September 2017. Manganese lowers by -9.4% month-on-month to SEK 58/t per 1%.

The surcharge for silicon has now fallen on-month for each of the last 18 months. For October it is lowered again by -6.2% m-o-m to SEK 45/t per 1%. That for molybdenum falls back by just -1.3% to SEK 2,078/t per 1%.

The steelmaker’s scrap surcharge for October is reduced heavily by -19.4% to SEK 1,669/t. All surcharges apply from 1 October 2019, the company confirms in its listings.

These surcharges apply to deliveries of hot rolled bar only, from Ovako’s sites at Smedjebacken and Boxholm, and Hofors and Hällefors in Sweden and from Imatra in Finland. Surcharges vary for other products from Hofors and Hällefors including bars with different finishes, and tube and rings.