China's domestic stainless steel market has mostly moved on a stable trend in the past week, though with slight upticks seen in prices for 304 series products.
Global nickel prices have indicated minor fluctuations in the past week, with prices now slightly higher than they were one week ago. On November 18, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $15,650/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 390,198 mt.
Slight rises have been observed in prices of 304 series products in the Chinese domestic stainless market in the past week against the backdrop of minor rises in nickel prices. Overall inventory levels in the local stainless steel market have been quite low influenced by production cuts for the duration of the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting held in Beijing. Accordingly, low supply has also contributed to the slight rises in some stainless steel prices seen in the past week. At the same time, no improvement has been observed in overall trading activity, which has remained slack. For the coming week, the domestic stainless steel market is expected to continue its mostly stable trend, with some slight price increases also anticipated.