China’s domestic stainless steel market has mostly moved on a downward trend during the past seven days, though some product prices have followed a sideways trend.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on a slight uptrend during the past week. On May 31, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $8,435/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 401,766 mt.
Overall trading activity in the Chinese domestic stainless market has remained slack in the past week. In the coming period, producers’ maintenance works may provide a certain degree of support for stainless steel prices, though it is thought that domestic stainless steel prices will still be characterized by some softness. The local Chinese stainless steel market is expected to follow a slight downtrend in the week ahead.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/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 | 7,000 | 1,064 | 0 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,400 | 1,884 | ↓250 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,000 | 1,824 | ↓300 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 7,250 | 1,102 | ↓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