China’s domestic stainless steel prices have continued a mostly upward trend during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on a soft trend during the past week. On March 2, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $18,725/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 258,792 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has declined and is currently at low levels. Production has generally resumed fully after the holiday, causing production volumes and inventory to increase. After the previous week’s strong increases, the demand side has become sluggish and traders are worried that prices may have risen too high. The recent softening of nickel prices may exert pressure on stainless steel prices. As for the week ahead, considering the weakness of the demand side and reductions of the cost side, it is believed that stainless steel prices may indicate some slight downticks.
|
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
|
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
|
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
12,700 |
1,967 |
500 |
79 |
|
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
8,700 |
1,347 |
0 |
1 |
|
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
17,100 |
2,648 |
0 |
2 |
|
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
17,950 |
2,780 |
300 |
49 |
|
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
10,600 |
1,642 |
200 |
32 |
|
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
9,200 |
1,425 |
200 |
32 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.457