China's domestic stainless steel prices are mostly lower on week-on-week basis, having first moved down during the past week, before starting to rebound.
Global nickel prices have moved up by small margins during the past week. On September 8, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $16,755/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 271,008 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has improved slightly during the past seven days but is still considered to be on the sluggish side. Upstream nickel prices have indicated a small upward movement, but most stainless steel traders were still willing to reduce their quoted prices in order to close more deals. As for the week ahead, considering that the sales season is coming and that demand volumes may recover, it is believed that stainless steel prices may indicate some small increases.
| Spec. - Grade (mm) | Origin | Price | Weekly change | ||
| (RMB/mt) | ($/mt) | (RMB/mt) | ($/mt) | ||
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 12,400 | 1,830 | 0 | 2 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 7,900 | 1,166 | -200 | -28 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 15,000 | 2,213 | -200 | -28 |
| 304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 14,350 | 2,117 | -150 | -20 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 7,600 | 1,121 | 0 | 1 |
| 430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Taigang | 6,950 | 1,026 | 0 | 1 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.777
