Acerinox says open to steel pricing formula changes

STOCKHOLM, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Spanish steel producer Acerinox is open to changes in pricing for stainless steel if customers desire, but prefers the current pricing mechanism, its Chief Executive Bernardo Velazquez told Reuters on Wednesday.

The CEO of competing producer Aperam said earlier the company was talking to its customers about a possible change it the alloy pricing mechanism for stainless steel.

"We prefer the old system, but we can change if customers want," Velazquez said in an interview on the sidelines of the Metal Bulletin stainless steel conference.

"We can have fixed prices, we can have different formulas for the alloy surcharge, that's not a problem for us."

The price of the alloy is currently composed of two elements, a base price and an alloy surcharge.

The base price is agreed between the mill and the customer on a monthly, quarterly or longer basis, while the monthly alloy surcharge is calculated using a formula based on the average price of nickel and other alloys present in stainless steel, for the month or two months before the booking. (Reporting by Silvia Antonioli; Editing by David Holmes)