China's domestic stainless steel market has witnessed significant price decreases for 304 series products during the past week, while prices of other products have remained stable.
Global nickel prices have mostly moved on a downward trend during the past week. On September 23, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $17,125/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 341,364mt.
The relatively large decreases in prices of 304 series stainless steel products in the Chinese domestic market in the past seven days have been due to the general downward movement of nickel prices. Overall trading activity in the stainless steel market is still slack. However, following the small rebound in nickel prices on Tuesday, September 23, some improvement in demand for stainless steel products has been observed. Nevertheless, it is not clear if nickel prices will continue to rebound. It is thought that domestic stainless steel prices in China may move sideways in the coming week.