China’s domestic stainless steel market has indicated declines in prices of 304 series products in the past seven days, while prices of other products have mostly trended sideways, though with some upticks in prices also seen.
Global nickel prices have risen slightly over the past week. On May 17, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $8,800/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 405,858 mt.
Domestic prices of 304 series stainless steel prices have softened in the past week amid weak trading activity and high inventory levels, though prices of some other products followed the upward trend of nickel prices. As for the coming week, it is believed that the domestic stainless steel market may fluctuate on a slightly soft trend.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,300 | 1,575 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 7,000 | 1,070 | ↑200 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,950 | 1,980 | ↓350 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,650 | 1,934 | ↓400 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 7,350 | 1,124 | 0 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 6,400 | 979 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.54