Global nickel prices have seen significant downward fluctuations during the past week. On March 29, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $17,480/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 99,918 mt.
During the past week, nickel prices in China have declined sharply. Meanwhile, prices have fallen in the domestic stainless steel market amid poor demand, low confidence among traders, and reduced nickel prices. Stainless steel prices in China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section. With nickel prices fluctuating at low levels, there also appears to be further room for domestic stainless steel spot prices to decrease. Downstream buyers are mostly pessimistic on the prospects for the stainless steel price trend and so the trading volume for stainless steel has been slack. For the coming week, the stainless steel market in China is mostly expected to continue to fluctuate in a downward direction, provided there is no change in the trend of nickel prices.