China’s domestic stainless steel market has indicated a strong rising trend during the past week.
Global nickel prices have moved upward in the past week, especially in last two days. On November 8, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $11,260/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 362,970 mt.
The increases seen in domestic stainless steel prices in the past seven days have been smaller compared to those observed in the previous week. Traders have started to sell their inventories, but producers are still maintaining their quoted prices at high levels, providing support for stainless steel market prices. Domestic raw material prices and finished steel prices in China have continued to rise, also providing support. Overall, with the winter approaching, demand is unlikely to improve. As for the coming week, it is believed that domestic stainless steel prices may continue to increase but by smaller margins.
| Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
| 202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 10,100 | 1.490 | 0 |
| 201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan/Lecong | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 8,100 | 1.195 | ↑100 |
| 304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 16,200 | 2.389 | ↑1,000 |
| 304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 16,400 | 2.419 | ↑700 |
| 430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 9,300 | 1.372 | ↑600 |
| 430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 7,500 | 1.106 | ↑200 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.78