China’s domestic stainless steel market has mostly followed a stable trend during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on a downward trend in the past week. On December 15, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $8,550/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 423,516 mt.
Despite the decreases in nickel prices, domestic stainless steel prices in China have mostly remained stable in the past week, with only slight price decreases seen for some products. Demand in the market is still at relatively low levels. Shortages of certain products have provided some support for prices, while traders are generally unwilling to reduce their quotations. As for the coming week, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices will continue to follow a mostly stable trend.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,800 | 1,515 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 5,900 | 912 | ↓50 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,000 | 1,855 | 0 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 11,400 | 1,762 | 0 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 6,450 | 997 | 0 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 6,300 | 974 | ↓200 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.47