China's domestic stainless steel market has mostly moved on a stable trend in the past week, though prices of 304 series products have increased.
Global nickel prices have rebounded sharply during the past week. On November 25, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $16,455/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 398,064 mt.
The significant rise in nickel prices in the past week has contributed to the rises in domestic 304 series product prices in the past seven days. At the same time, overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market is still slack. In the current off-season, most traders are keeping their stocks at low levels and so shortages for certain stainless products are also another reason for the rises seen in some stainless steel prices. As for the coming week, it is believed that the trend in the local Chinese stainless steel market will be mainly stable, with some slight upticks also possible.