China's domestic
stainless steel market has for the most part followed a stable trend during the seven days.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on an upward trend during the past week. On August 26, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $18,950/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 326,220 mt.
While prices in the Chinese domestic
stainless steel market have mainly moved sideways during the past week, prices of some 304 series products have seen slight upticks due to the influence of increases in nickel prices. Overall trading activity in the
stainless steel market is still slack and this prevents traders from raising their quotations in line with higher nickel prices. Traders are trying to keep their inventories at low levels and are willing to negotiate on their quoted prices. For the coming week, it is believed that prices will mostly remain stable though some upticks may be seen for some products in line with increased nickel prices.