China’s domestic stainless steel market has seen both downward and stable movement of prices during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have continued to soften during the past week. On August 25, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $9,710/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 453,852mt.
The declines in nickel prices have contributed to the decreases in prices of some local Chinese stainless steel products, especially 304 series products, in the past week. Trading activity in the market has remained slack despite the lower prices, while traders are willing to offer some discounts in order to attract business. It is believed that there will be room for further downward movement of local stainless steel prices in the week ahead.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,800 | 1,529 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 6,450 | 1,006 | 0 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,400 | 1,934 | ↓400 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,000 | 1,872 | ↓250 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 6,000 | 936 | ↓100 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 5,700 | 889 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.41