China’s domestic stainless steel prices have followed a mostly stable during the past seven days, with some slight upticks also observed.
Global nickel prices have softened during the past week. On March 3, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $17,135/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 287,976 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has improved in the past week in line with the recovery of demand and is now considered to be at normal levels. The increased demand has caused the prices of some products to rise slightly, even though nickel prices have softened. As for the week ahead, it is believed that stainless steel prices could edge up by small margins against the backdrop of the weakness of the cost side and the recovery of the demand side.
| Spec. - Grade (mm) | Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong |
12,350 |
1,787 |
0 |
5 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong |
7,950 |
1,150 |
0 |
3 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang |
15,150 |
2,192 |
50 |
14 |
| 304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang |
14,700 |
2,127 |
250 |
42 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang |
7,650 |
1,107 |
0 |
3 |
| 430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Taigang |
6,900 |
998 |
0 |
3 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.912