China’s domestic stainless steel prices have either moved sideways or upwards during the past seven days. The price increases have mainly been seen for 300 series products.
Global nickel prices have increased during the past week. On January 4, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $21,040/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 101,256 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has been slack due to the offseason. Upstream nickel prices and stainless steel futures prices have both moved upwards, providing strong support for the stainless steel spot market. However, due to the end of the year and the weakness of demand, some traders chose to keep their prices stable in order to close more deals. As for the week ahead, considering the strong support from the cost side, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices may rise slightly, with minor fluctuations possible.
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
14,600 |
2,289 |
0 |
-1 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
9,950 |
1,560 |
0 |
-1 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
18,600 |
2,916 |
100 |
14 |
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
18,000 |
2,822 |
400 |
61 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
9,000 |
1,411 |
0 |
-1 |
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
9,250 |
1,450 |
0 |
-1 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.378
