China’s domestic stainless steel market prices have mostly moved sideways in the past seven days, though with a slight decline seen in some product prices.
Global nickel prices softened slightly in the last week of 2018. On December 31, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $10,695/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 207,924 mt.
Overall trading activity has been slack in the domestic stainless market due to year-end considerations, while certain traders have been willing to offer discounts in order to close deals. However, in the current off-season, decreases in prices are unlikely to spark an improvement in demand. Meanwhile, some producers plan to carry out maintenance works in January, which may contribute to a further reduction in supply, while demand may show some slight increase as traders may start to build stocks ahead of the Chinese New Year. As for the coming period, it is believed that stainless steel prices in China may fluctuate on a slight uptrend.
|
Specification (mm) |
Region |
Steel plant/origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
|
202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) |
Foshan/Lecong |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
10,000 |
1,458 |
0 |
|
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Foshan/Lecong |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
8,900 |
1,297 |
0 |
|
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
15,200 |
2,216 |
0 |
|
304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
15,200 |
2,216 |
↓50 |
|
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Taigang |
8,100 |
1,181 |
0 |
|
430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Wuxi |
Krupp |
8,300 |
1,210 |
0 |
16 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.86