China's domestic stainless steel market has indicated slight decreases in some prices during the past week, while other prices have moved sideways. Average stainless steel prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the table below
In the past week, global nickel prices first moved down but then started to increase, ending the week at higher levels compared to one week earlier. On June 23, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $12,860/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 458,688 mt.
The declines seen in some domestic stainless steel prices in the past week have been smaller than those recorded in the previous week. Meanwhile, traders are still willing to give certain discounts in order to attract deals. Overall demand in the market has remained at very low levels. As for the coming week, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices may indicate some further slight downticks.
Specification (mm) |
Region |
Steel plant/origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) |
Foshan |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
10,900 |
1,755 |
0 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Foshan |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
7,100 |
1,143 |
↓100 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
14,000 |
2,254 |
↓200 |
304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
13,800 |
2,222 |
0 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
6,900 |
1,111 |
↓100 |
430/BA (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Krupp |
6,300 |
1,014 |
0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.21