SteelOrbis has been informed that as of December 17 ex-China stainless steel coil export prices are at $2,000-2,050/mt FOB, continuing to move sideways compared to December 10.
During the given week, local stainless steel prices from Shanxi Province-based Chinese steelmaker Taigang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd have decreased by RMB 250/mt ($36/mt) compared to the previous week.
Following big declines over the previous week, nickel prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME) have bottomed up in the past week, exerting a positive impact on the local Chinese stainless steel market.
However, demand for stainless steel is still slack. Many traders think there may only be a short-term bottoming-up ahead of the New Year holiday (January 1), but that it would hardly continue in the longer term. Only a few traders have said they will build up some stocks ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
Stainless steel futures at the Shanghai Future Exchange closed at RMB 14,300/mt ($2,043.7/mt) on Tuesday, December 17, increasing by RMB 315/mt ($45.0/mt) or 2.25 percent compared to RMB 13,985/mt on December 10.
$1 = RMB 6.997
