China’s domestic stainless steel prices have followed a mostly stable during the past seven days, though with slight downticks seen too.
Global nickel prices have softened during the past week. On May 20, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $15,530/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 202,098 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has been at normal levels, supporting the stability of prices, though some traders chose to cut prices given the softening of nickel prices. As for the week ahead, considering demand may weaken, it is believed that stainless steel prices could move down by small margins.
| Spec. - Grade (mm) | Origin | Price | Weekly change | ||
| (RMB/mt) | ($/mt) | (RMB/mt) | ($/mt) | ||
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 12,500 | 1,738 | 0 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 7,400 | 1,029 | 0 | 0 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 13,850 | 1,925 | -100 | -13 |
| 304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 13,300 | 1,849 | 0 | 1 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 7,400 | 1,029 | 0 | 0 |
| 430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Taigang | 6,750 | 938 | 0 | 0 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 7.194