China’s domestic stainless steel prices have indicated a strong uptrend in the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have risen strongly during the past week. On February 23, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $19,385/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 251,049 mt.
Amid sharp rises in raw material prices, domestic stainless steel prices have increased significantly during the past week, with hot rolled products showing a relatively steeper increase compared to cold rolled products due to low hot rolled market inventories. Trading activity has increased slowly but is still weak since the downstream side has not fully returned to the market yet. As for the week ahead, considering the gradual recovery of the demand side and strong support from costs, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices in China may continue their upward trend, though increase margins may be smaller compared to the past week.
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
12,200 |
1,888 |
1,050 |
156 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
8,700 |
1,346 |
450 |
65 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
17,100 |
2,646 |
750 |
107 |
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
17,650 |
2,731 |
1,100 |
161 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
10,400 |
1,609 |
250 |
33 |
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
9,000 |
1,393 |
0 |
-5 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.462
