China’s domestic stainless steel market has mostly moved on a slight downtrend during the past week, though some product prices have moved sideways or slightly upward.
Global nickel prices are down slightly on week-on-week basis. On December 20, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $10,925/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 371,616 mt.
With slight reductions in raw material prices seen in both the spot and futures markets in China, most traders have chosen to decrease their stainless steel prices slightly, also in order to attract more business approaching the end of the year. However, downstream buyers are generally maintaining a wait-and-see stance and stainless steel prices are still considered to be at relatively high levels after the latest slight reductions. Accordingly, demand may continue to slacken. It is believed that further slight decreases in domestic stainless steel prices may be seen in the coming week, with larger decreases unlikely due to high costs.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,000 | 1,439 | ↓300 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,800 | 1,410 | 0 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 18,300 | 2,633 | ↓100 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 18,100 | 2,604 | ↓200 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 10,100 | 1,453 | ↓150 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 8,900 | 1,281 | ↑100 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.95