Price trend:

According to data from SunSirs, stainless steel prices fell slightly last week. As of November 21, the average daily price of spot 304/2B stainless steel flat plate 1.0*1219*2438 (tolerance 0.91) was 11,458.33 RMB/ton, down 0.29% from the beginning of the week and down 16.66% year-on-year.

According to data from SunSirs' data, nickel and stainless steel prices showed similar trends, with both showing an overall downward trend recently.

Market Analysis

Last week, total stainless steel inventory was 1.0717 million tons, up 0.1% from the previous week, with both cold rolled and hot rolled inventories increasing.

Raw materials: The ore market remained relatively stable, with tenders resulting in a calm market. In the Philippines, the Eramen 1.4% nickel ore tender in the north was settled at $42/wet ton, while no transactions were finalized for the Benguet 1.25% nickel ore tender. Nickel pig iron prices continued to decline, with downstream mainstream steel mills' nickel pig iron tenders reaching a new low of 880 RMB/nickel (bottom price including tax). Iron mills showed low production enthusiasm and adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards purchasing raw material nickel ore. The sluggish stainless steel market indirectly weakened the ferrochrome market, increasing ferrochrome supply pressure. Coupled with falling chromium ore prices, raw material cost support declined.

Supply and Demand: In October, domestic stainless steel crude steel output reached 3.5138 million tons, an increase of 87,100 tons month-on-month, or 2.54%, and an increase of 6.8% year-on-year. November production was scheduled for 3.3752 million tons, a decrease of 2.06% month-on-month and an increase of 1.71% year-on-year. Affected by expectations of weak demand in the fourth quarter, several steel mills recently jointly reduced production to maintain prices, but this was mostly concentrated in 200-series mills, while 300-series production remained high.

Market outlook

Supply-side pressures persisted, with steel mills jointly reducing production to maintain prices, but this was mainly concentrated in 200-series mills, while 300-series production remains high. Demand remained weak, with declining growth in end-user infrastructure and manufacturing investment dragging down consumption. Social inventories remained stable the week before last, while warehouse receipts showed a downward trend. Overall, policy and macroeconomic drivers were insufficient, the fundamental structure had not improved significantly, and supply-side pressures from steel mill production schedules and social inventories remained, while demand was not being boosted sufficiently. In the short term, stainless steel prices are expected to fluctuate and weaken .

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