China’s domestic stainless steel prices have move sideways or down slightly during the past week.
Global nickel prices have softened by a small margin during the past week. On January 9, the three-month nickel price at the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $16,225/mt, while LME nickel inventory on the same date totaled 68,454 mt.
Overall trading activity in the domestic stainless steel market has remained sluggish due to the off-season. Prices of nickel and stainless steel futures have lately softened, but many stainless steel traders have been unwiling to follow this trend. Demand has improved slightly. As for the week ahead, support from the cost side is still exists, but demand may pick up a little as downstream users may seek to increase their winter stock levels. It is believed that stainless steel prices may indicate a mostly stable trend in the coming week.
|
Spec. - Grade (mm) |
Origin |
Price |
Weekly change |
||
|
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
(RMB/mt) |
($/mt) |
||
|
202/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
12,750 |
1,794 |
0 |
-1 |
|
201/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Guangzhou Lianzhong |
8,500 |
1,196 |
50 |
6 |
|
304/2B (1.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
14,350 |
2,019 |
-150 |
-22 |
|
304/No.1 (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
13,900 |
1,956 |
0 |
-1 |
|
430/2B (3.0 x 1,219 x C) |
Taigang |
8,200 |
1,154 |
0 |
-1 |
|
430/No.1 (3.0 x 1,500 x C) |
Taigang |
7,300 |
1,027 |
0 |
-1 |
13 percent VAT is included in the above prices.
$1 = RMB 7.106