Chinese domestic stainless steel prices followed a similar trend to nickel prices in the past week, generally first increasing and then declining.
During the past week, global nickel prices first moved up before then fluctuating in a downward direction. On July 31, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $13,650/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 203,028 mt.
Domestic stainless steel prices in China rose last weekend influenced by the rebound in nickel prices and by shortages of stock materials. In addition, Chinese steel giant Baosteel issued unchanged stainless quotations for August, providing a certain degree of support for the overall domestic stainless steel market. Accordingly, domestic prices of 304 series moved up by about RMB 200-300/mt at the weekend, while prices of other stainless products moved up slightly. However, in the remainder of the week, with nickel prices starting to trend down, domestic stainless steel prices in China returned to their previous levels, except for prices of 304 series which remained at the increased levels due to shortages on the supply side. As stainless steel prices cannot rise without the support of nickel prices, which are still characterized by weakness, the Chinese domestic stainless steel market will probably follow a stable trend in the coming week.