China’s domestic stainless steel prices have mostly declined during the past seven days, with relatively significant declines seen for 304 series products.
Global nickel prices have followed a downward trend during the past week. On December 3, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $13,360/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 68,982 mt.
The main products in the domestic stainless steel market have indicated relatively large declines in the past week due to the significant declines seen in nickel prices, while overall trading activity for stainless steel has been at low levels. Most traders were ready to lower prices in order to close more deals at the end of November. Meanwhile, downstream still remains weak during the current off-season. Inventories of the major stainless products are at normal levels, while production volumes have not been restricted. As for the week ahead, considering the off-season and the weakness of nickel prices, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices may move down further.
|
Specification (mm) |
Region |
Producer |
Price |
Price |
Change w-o-w |
|
|
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
|||
|
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Foshan |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
11,300 |
1,606 |
0 |
-1 |
|
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Foshan |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
7,200 |
1,023 |
-100 |
-15 |
|
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
15,550 |
2,209 |
-350 |
-51 |
|
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
15,100 |
2,145 |
-500 |
-72 |
|
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
8,200 |
1,165 |
0 |
0 |
|
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
7,900 |
1,122 |
0 |
0 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 7.038