China's domestic stainless steel market has mostly moved on a slight downtrend during the past seven days, though some stable price movement has also been seen.
Global nickel prices have fluctuated on a downward trend during the past week. On March 17, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $13,725/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 432,120 mt.
The soft trend of nickel prices has contributed to the downticks observed in domestic stainless steel prices in the past week. Even though stainless steel prices in China are considered to be at relatively low levels with traders' profit margins on the tight side, most traders have still chosen to reduce their prices slightly in order to attract business. Overall trading activity in the market has improved a little but is still a bit on the slow side. As for the coming week, domestic stainless steel prices are expected to move sideways.