China's domestic stainless steel market has been characterized by diverse trends during the past seven days, with upward, downward and stable price movements observed.
Global nickel prices have moved on a slight downtrend during the past week. On January 12, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $8,220/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 437,334 mt.
Overall trading activity in the Chinese domestic stainless steel market is still sluggish and is unlikely to improve given the approach of the Chinese New Year holiday. At present, some traders are willing to offer discounts in order to attract business. As for the coming week, it is thought that market prices may follow a stable trend.
Specification (mm) | Region | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
202/No.1 (3.0 x 120 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 9,800 | 1,489 | 0 |
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Foshan | Guangzhou Lianzhong | 5,900 | 897 | 0 |
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 11,650 | 1,771 | ↓100 |
304/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 11,100 | 1,687 | ↑100 |
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Taigang | 6,650 | 1,011 | ↑50 |
430/No.1(3.0 x 1,219 x C) | Wuxi | Krupp | 6,200 | 942 | 0 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.58