Finland’s Outokumpu tells Kallanish that it has introduced a graphite electrode upcharge for all stainless steel products with immediate effect.

“The tight supply situation within the graphite electrodes market has led to limited global availability of graphite electrodes and sharp increases in their prices. This has in turn led to significant increase in the production costs of stainless steel,” the company says.

The initial electrode upcharge will be €30/tonne ($35.22/t), and it concerns all new contracts and spot-orders in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia and Asia as of 26 September 2017, Outokumpu confirms.

The upcharge will be updated monthly, the stainless steel producer says, and will be monitored by Kallanish on the same basis.