China's domestic stainless steel prices have followed a stable trend during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have moved down slightly during the past week. On August 11, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $16,820/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 264,744 mt.
Overall trading activity in the Chinese domestic stainless steel market has again remained sluggish due to the off-season and the hot summer weather. While upstream nickel prices have moved down by small margins, most traders have chosen to keep their stainless steel prices stable since trading activity is very slow, and, in addition, production volumes as well as market inventories are still at low levels, which also provide support for stainless steel prices. As for the week ahead, it is believed that stainless steel prices may just indicate small fluctuations.
| Spec. - Grade (mm) | Origin | Price | Weekly change | ||
| (RMB/mt) | ($/mt) | (RMB/mt) | ($/mt) | ||
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 12,400 | 1,827 | 0 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 8,250 | 1,215 | 0 | 0 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 15,700 | 2,313 | 0 | 0 |
| 304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 14,800 | 2,180 | 0 | 0 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Taigang | 7,600 | 1,120 | 0 | 0 |
| 430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) | Taigang | 6,950 | 1,024 | 0 | 0 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.788
