On January 3, the London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month nickel price closed at $18,924/mt, up from $18,570/mt on December 24. while LME nickel inventory on January 3 totaled 90,516 mt, compared to 90,042 mt on December 24.
The trading volume for stainless steel has been on the low side in China in the past week though there has been some improvement in activity in the past few days, while there have been some slight decreases in domestic stainless steel prices. Stainless steel prices in China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section. Meanwhile, stainless steel inventory in China has declined somewhat, while a rebound has been seen in LME nickel prices after the New Year break. Accordingly, support for the stainless market in China has increased. Thus, it is expected that the stainless market in China will follow a stable trend in the coming week.