China’s domestic stainless steel market has seen both upticks and downticks in prices during the past seven days, with prices of 304 series products indicating increases.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on an upward trend during the past week. On June 14, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $8,890/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 390,660 mt.
Overall demand in the Chinese domestic stainless steel market has been sluggish in the past week. Traders are focused on sales and are willing to offer certain discounts. Some producers have commenced maintenance works and so supply volumes have declined and this has been the main factor providing support for prices of certain products. As for the coming week, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices may remain stable or fluctuate just slightly.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,300 | 1,565 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 6,400 | 973 | ↓200 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,700 | 1,930 | ↑200 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,400 | 1,884 | ↑300 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 7,150 | 1,087 | ↓50 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 6,400 | 973 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.58