SteelOrbis has been informed that as of November 19 ex-China stainless steel coil export prices are at $2,050-2,100/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to November 12.
During the given week, local stainless steel of Shanxi Province-based Chinese steelmaker Taigang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd declined by RMB 200/mt ($28.6/mt).
London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel prices have continued their decreasing trend in the given week, negatively affecting the local Chinese stainless steel market.
Meanwhile, players in the stainless steel market mostly hold a pessimistic attitude of the future prospects for the market as there will be more than 13 million mt of new stainless steel capacity coming on stream in the next two years, representing an increase of around 34 percent compared to the current domestic capacity of 38.0 million mt, and this is expected to exert a negative impact on stainless steel export prices.
However, stainless steel futures at the Shanghai Future Exchange closed at RMB 14,380/mt ($2,054.3/mt) on Tuesday, November 19, decreasing by just RMB 5/mt ($0.7/mt) compared to RMB 14,385/mt on November 12 as China’s central bank took measures to inject liquidity into the market, thereby providing some support for the stainless steel market.