Prices in China's domestic stainless steel market are mostly unchanged compared to one week ago, though slight downticks week on week have also been seen.
Global nickel prices have indicated an upward trend during the past week. On July 12, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $10,490/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 378,120 mt.
In the past week, stainless steel traders at first chose to follow the upward trend of nickel prices but then reduced their prices back down to the previous levels due to the slackness of trading activity. However, some market prices are slightly lower compared to one week ago. It is thought that domestic stainless price may soften slightly in the week ahead due to the current sluggishness of demand.
Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,300 | 1,540 | 0 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 6,400 | 957 | 0 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 13,050 | 1,951 | 0 |
304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,500 | 1,868 | ↓100 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 7,100 | 1,061 | 0 |
430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 6,500 | 972 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.69