Prices in China's domestic stainless steel market have not indicated any significant change in the past week.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated down slightly during the past week. On January 23, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $17,550/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 149,154 mt.
The LME nickel price has recently been fluctuating at around $17,500/mt and this has influenced China's domestic stainless market, where prices have not changed much compared to last week. Information from the market points to a slight improvement in the trade volume compared to the previous week. However, considering the weakness of nickel prices, the confidence of traders is low. Meanwhile, coming towards the end of the Chinese year, traders are focused on sales and so prices are unlikely to rise. For the coming week, stainless steel quotations in the Chinese domestic market will probably remain on a stable trend, while a slight softening may be seen in actual deal prices.