Some prices in China’s domestic stainless steel market are at the same levels as one week ago, while other prices have declined.
Global nickel prices have decreased slightly compared to one week earlier. On April 11, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $9,840mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 370,802 mt.
In the past week, the three-month nickel price at the LME first moved up, before declining in the latter part of the week, while a similar price fluctuation was observed in domestic stainless steel prices during the week. Prices in the Wuxi market in China have mostly returned to last week’s levels, while prices in the Foshan market have decreased on week-on-week basis due to concerns regarding the future trend of nickel prices. Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market is still weak, while market inventories remain at high levels. It is believed that domestic stainless steel price may move on a soft trend in the coming week.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,800 | 1,420 | ↓300 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 8,800 | 1,275 | ↓350 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 15,400 | 2,232 | ↓100 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 16,900 | 2,449 | 0 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 8,600 | 1,246 | 0 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 9,100 | 1,319 | 0 |
17 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.90