China's domestic stainless steel market has moved on a downward trend during the past week.
Global nickel prices showed a fluctuating downward trend during past week. On August 4, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $10,830/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 457,926 mt.
The declines in nickel prices have contributed to the decreases in domestic stainless steel market prices in the past week, while overall trading activity in the market has remained slow due to hot weather conditions. Traders have been cutting their prices in order to attract sales, while some traders have been offering larger discounts. Inventory levels in the market are still at low levels. It is expected that Chinese domestic stainless steel prices will indicate slight decreases in the coming week amid the soft trend of nickel prices.
Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,000 | 1,610 | ↓100 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 6,700 | 1,079 | ↓50 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,900 | 2,077 | ↓300 |
304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,600 | 2,029 | ↓200 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 6,200 | 998 | ↓150 |
430/BA (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 5,700 | 918 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.21