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The metal industry and the people concerned can finally heave a sigh of relief after reading the recent news! The stainless steel market has made an impressive comeback. Although the outlook is healthier, but it is not yet robust at the moment.

A year ago, the market for specialty metals stainless steels was not in such a good position. Now, things are beginning to look up. According to Michael Stateczny, the chairman of the Specialty Steel Industry of the market development committee of North America, the year 2008-09 was a very difficult period for their industry and he also expressed relief that the things are improving.

Terry Hartford, Pittsburgh-based ATI Allegheny Ludlum’s senior vice president pointed out that they were now seeing steadier and more gradual recovery in a number of their end-markets after going through the worst recession in seventy years.

Markus Moll, a senior market analyst, however, advises word of caution to the people in the metal industry stating that he was not going to assume that the rise in orders in the specialty metals market earlier this year would provide enough momentum to sail smoothly through for the rest of the year.

The director of strategic sourcing for Castle Metals, Franklin Park, Ill, Rick Lazzari said that the customers of the metal industries are holding off their purchases on the assumption and expectation that the prices of the raw materials, including stainless steel would drop further.

The specialty metal inventories in the service center have increased as per a metal bulletin research of London. The Bulletin Research recorded a declined 8.4% in service center stainless steel shipments from the past month. A year earlier, the figure was about 10.1%. Because of the decline in the shipment orders, the quantity of steel in the distributor inventories shot up to 343,500 tons which is about 21% more than the figure a year earlier and  6.3% more than the figures in April.

However, not all service centers are experiencing bloats in their inventories. The president and chief executive of Metals USA Inc. shared the information that they always kept their stainless steel inventories quite close to the vest at all times, including boom periods because they know that the things affected by the commodities that trade on the London Metal Exchange is volatile and may not follow true life because one never knows what is going on in the speculator’s mind.

According to Bill Sales, the senior vice president of nonferrous operations for Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. in Los Angeles, things would get better but not instantaneously, it would take time. Sales also pointed out that price volatility would continue.

As of now, a majority of the distributors and producers of stainless steel and other specialty metals are looking forward to earning gradual gains in the second half of this year and anticipating even more gains in the next year, 2011.