China's domestic stainless steel market has mostly moved on a downward trend during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have softened in the past week. On March 28, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $9,995mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 381,180 mt.
The declines in nickel prices have contributed to the downward movement of domestic stainless steel prices in China during the past week, while overall trading activity has remained slack especially as buyers are waiting for lower prices and do not want to purchase just yet. Furthermore, inventories are still at high levels, causing traders to offer lower prices in order to attract business coming closer to the end of the month. As for the coming week, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices may continue to move down, though decrease margins may be smaller.
Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,200 | 1,480 | ↓50 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,250 | 1,343 | ↓300 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 15,500 | 2,250 | ↓700 |
304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 16,900 | 2,453 | 0 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 8,600 | 1,248 | ↓250 |
430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 9,100 | 1,321 | ↓200 |
17 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.89