China’s domestic stainless steel prices have continued to follow an upward trend during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have continued to increase during the past week. On September 1, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $15,540/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 238,722 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has been weak due to hot and rainy weather conditions, while the ongoing price increases have caused downstream buyers to mostly maintain a wait-and-see stance. Stainless steel inventories have been at low levels, with some products in short supply, and this has also provided strong support for stainless steel prices. As for the week ahead, considering costs are still rising due to the uptrend of nickel prices, it is believed that stainless steel prices will continue their upward trend, though the increase margins may be smaller given the weakness of demand.
|
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
|
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
|
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
11,000 |
1,609 |
0 |
16 |
|
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
6,850 |
1,002 |
50 |
17 |
|
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
15,900 |
2,325 |
250 |
60 |
|
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
15,600 |
2,281 |
200 |
52 |
|
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
7,750 |
1,133 |
100 |
26 |
|
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
7,300 |
1,068 |
0 |
11 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.838