China's domestic
stainless steel market has continued to follow a mostly stable trend during the past week.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on a downward trend during the past week. On September 2, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $18,650/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 330,630 mt.
The LME three-month nickel price is now at the same level as two weeks ago following its decline in the past week. While Chinese domestic
stainless prices have mostly moved sideways in the past seven days, prices of some 304 series products have increased due to the very low inventory levels of the products in question. Negative sentiment still prevails in the Chinese
stainless steel market, especially as demand still remains weak. On the one hand, the cost factor for
stainless steel remains at a relatively high level, while, on the other hand, demand appears unlikely to improve. For the coming week, it is believed that the domestic
stainless steel market will still follow a mainly stable trend.