China’s domestic stainless steel prices have either moved sideways or up slightly in the past seven days depending on the product.
Global nickel prices have moved up by a small margin during the past week. On December 8, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $16,370/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 243,564 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has been at normal levels. Supply volumes have recently been characterized by some tightness, which gives support to stainless steel prices. Some producers have increased their 400 series product prices instead of 300 series prices. Traders are mostly worried that demand will remain weak and are not willing to increase stock levels. As for the week ahead, considering that the cost side is still strong but that demand may weaken, it is believed that stainless steel prices in China may follow a stable trend, with minor downticks also possible.
|
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
|
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
|
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
11,100 |
1,700 |
0 |
8 |
|
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
7,000 |
1,072 |
0 |
5 |
|
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
15,000 |
2,297 |
0 |
11 |
|
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
15,300 |
2,343 |
150 |
34 |
|
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
9,300 |
1,424 |
100 |
22 |
|
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
7,700 |
1,179 |
100 |
21 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.531