China’s domestic stainless steel market has mostly followed a stable trend during the past seven days, though with some decreases in prices also seen.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on a downward trend in the past week. On January 17, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $10,160mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 372,114 mt.
Overall trading activity in the Chinese domestic stainless steel market has been at very low levels, while traders have been offering some discounts in order to attract business. As for the coming week, the market is expected to move on a sideways trend especially as traders and producers will be exiting the market ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,900 | 1,447 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,800 | 1,433 | 0 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 17,200 | 2,515 | 0 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 16,750 | 2,449 | ↓150 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 9,500 | 1,389 | 0 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 9,100 | 1,330 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.84