China’s domestic stainless steel prices have moved down slightly during the past seven days.
Global nickel prices have showed an upward trend during the past week. On August 2, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $22,3305/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 57,942 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has improved a little but it is still considered to be weak. Rises in prices of nickel and other raw materials have moved up, providing some support for stainless steel prices. Inventories in the stainless steel market have declined by a small margin, while traders have mostly been willing to slightly reduce their quoted prices in order to close more deals. As for the week ahead, it is believed that stainless steel prices may increase by a small margin supported by upstream costs.
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
14,200 |
2,094 |
0 |
-2 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
8,900 |
1,312 |
50 |
6 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
17,800 |
2,625 |
-200 |
-33 |
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
17,150 |
2,529 |
-50 |
-10 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
7,200 |
1,062 |
50 |
6 |
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
8,000 |
1,180 |
-300 |
-46 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 6.781