Global nickel prices have moved on a fluctuating trend during the past week, with prices down slightly compared to one week earlier. On July 28, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $11,325/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 452,580 mt.
Overall trading activity in the Chinese domestic stainless steel market has remained very sluggish amid the summer offseason. Currently, traders are willing to offer certain discounts or to decrease quoted prices in order to attract deals. At the same time, however, market inventories are at very low levels. It is thought that domestic stainless steel prices in China may follow a slight downtrend in the week ahead.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,100 | 1.675 | ↓300 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 6,750 | 1.119 | ↓200 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 13,200 | 2.174 | ↓300 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 12,800 | 2.085 | ↓150 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 6,350 | 1.039 | ↓100 |
| 430/BA (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 5,700 | 918 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.21